A jury in the trial of a man accused of murdering his Jamaican-born wife by hitting her on the head with a lump-hammer has assured the judge that its members have not been contacted by anybody about the case.
The jury was hearing evidence on day one of the trial of Goodwill Uduchuckwu (32), a Nigerian national with a previous address at Royal Canal View, Royal Canal Bank, Phibsboro, in Dublin, who denies the murder of mother-of-two Natasha Gray (25) there on February 18th, 2003.
Following legal argument yesterday afternoon, Mr Justice Kevin O'Higgins asked the jurors if anybody had tried to contact them or interfere with them in any way. He also asked whether anyone had winked at one of the female jurors. Following a brief discussion, the jury foreman replied: "No member of the jury has had any contact in any way with anyone."
Earlier in her opening speech for the prosecution, Pauline Walley SC told the jury that Ms Gray had been hit over the head with a lump-hammer in her bedroom in the early afternoon of the day in question. She said her body had been left in a cot and other people in the house found it with the lump-hammer beside it.
These people were her sister Nicola Curtis and her friend Sharon Facey.
Ms Walley said Ms Gray had been working in hospitals in Dublin including St James's and had been studying to be a nurse.
She had moved to Ireland from Jamaica and had a child from a previous relationship before she married Mr Uduchuckwu and gave birth to a second son by him.
Ms Facey, also from Jamaica, said she was living with Ms Gray and her sister and their children when Mr Uduchuckwu came to stay on Wednesday, February 12th, 2003.
She said he arrived at the flat with his brother and she threw him down the keys. When she went to tell Ms Gray her husband was downstairs, she was in bed after a night shift. She said she pulled the sheet over her head and said "Jesus Christ or something like that."
The following morning, Mr Uduchuckwu was still in the flat and there was shouting, which frightened Ms Gray. "She wanted him out of the flat because she was not expecting him to come back," she told Ms Walley.
Ms Facey said Ms Gray did not return home on Friday and did not come back until that Sunday morning but she had phoned her sister to tell her she was safe.
While she was away, Ms Facey said Mr Uduchuckwu went through Ms Gray's bags and found an itemised phone bill. She said he was very upset because he said 85 phone calls had been made to Guy Mboze who, the court heard, was the father of Ms Gray's first son.
Ms Facey claimed Mr Uduchuckwu had also tried to access Ms Gray's e-mails.
The trial continues.