A spade found by gardaí near the location of the remains of Elaine O’Hara was “the spade from our garden”, the wife of murder-accused Graham Dwyer has told the Central Criminal Court.
Gemma Dwyer was shown the spade, made an exhibit earlier in the trial, by Seán Guerin SC, for the prosecution. She said she recognised it because of the stickers on it and the splatters of orange-red paint. She said the fencing and shed in their garden had been painted and the paint had “gotten everywhere and on everything”.
Mr Dwyer (42), an architect from Kerrymount Close in Foxrock, is charged with murdering childcare worker Ms O’Hara (36) on August 22nd, 2012. He has pleaded not guilty.
Ms O’Hara’s remains were found in forestry on Kilakee Mountain, Rathfarnham, on September 13th, 2013.
Mrs Dwyer told the court the spade had been missing from their home throughout the summer of 2013. She spent a lot of time in the garden with the children and had used it when the dog from next door came in and littered.
Children’s sandpit
She mentioned its absence to her husband a number of times, she said and then just used a plastic spade from the children’s sandpit to clear the litter.
She was also shown a photo of her back garden and said it was taken when her husband and father had put up a set of swings on 5th March 2011. She pointed out what she said was “our spade” in the photo.
She was also shown a photo of a second spade and said she found this in the garden after her husband was arrested. She thought gardaí left it behind.
Mrs Dwyer also told the court, she and her husband shared a birthday, September 13th, and on that date in 2013, the same date Ms O’Hara’s remains were discovered, they went out for dinner to celebrate their birthdays.
Asked by Mr Guerin whether she noticed any unusual behaviour from her husband that day, she said no.
Mr Guerin read an extract from a letter sent to Mrs Dwyer by her husband on February 28th, 2014.
“Do not believe the gardaí. They actually have no evidence except my name and someone else’s phone number in that awful girl’s diary,” the letter said.
“I did know her, yes. I was helping her and I wasn’t totally honest with you.
“There is another man, someone who likes Real Madrid and wears pink underwear, involved in this. I believe this girl committed suicide and this man disposed of some embarrassing items on her behalf.
“She tried to kill herself several times. Why do you think none of her family are pushing this? I saved her life once. She was discharged from a mental health hospital and . . . she bought eight prescription drugs. I should have gone to the police when she disappeared. I might have known where she might be. I didn’t [go to the police].”
Mrs Dwyer told the court she and her husband bought a cottage in Rathmines in 2000 and renovated it together before buying their home in Kerrymount, Foxrock in August 2007.
She confirmed Mr Dwyer had worked on the students’ centre in Carlow IT during 2012 and 2013.
Mr Guerin asked Mrs Dwyer about Mr Dwyer’s son Sennan and whether there had been an issue with him smoking when he was younger.
“Yes, it was something that upset Graham greatly,” she replied.
Mrs Dwyer also told the jury her husband’s interest in model planes was “huge”.
“It was every evening,” she said. “He would work on his planes. Every evening and every weekend he would participate or practice for competitions.”
Model planes
She said he would research the subject on the internet and would fly model planes in the Phoenix Park and later at Shankill and at a club in Roundwood, where “a certain level of proficiency” was required to join.
On Wednesday’s he went to Roundwood flying club, she said. He would go directly from work and arrive home at about 8.30pm. She said she had “no specific recollection” of Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012, when Ms O’Hara was last seen.
Ms Dwyer also told the court Mr Dwyer’s working hours would typically be from 8.30am to 4.45pm. She said Mr Dwyer would generally be home before her and that the child minder would have left.
She described her husband as “fantastic with computers” and said there were “always computers in the house”.
Asked about his work clothing, Mrs Dwyer said he most frequently wore a black polo and jacket. She was shown a photo of a grey jacket and agreed her husband had a North Face jacket. She also said he had a lot of cars, including a Porsche 911 that he called “baby”.
The trial continues.
