West Belfast man Raymond O’Neill was sentenced to life in prison Friday after being found guilty of killing Jennifer Dornan.
After five hours of deliberation, the jurors of Belfast Crown Court unanimously handed down a verdict of guilty of murder and arson.
As friends and family of Mrs. Dornan began to enjoy themselves in the public gallery when the guilty verdict was handed down, O’Neill showed no emotion.
“After seven long years, we finally got the right to beautiful Jennifer,” said Mrs. Dornan’s mother, Teresa, and sister Claire, who attended the eight-week trial along with other relatives.
Despite her innocence being proven, the jury concluded that 47-year-old O’Neill had followed Jennifer Dornan to Hazel View’s home on Sunday, August 2, 2015, early Sunday morning.
A neighbor’s CCTV spotted him coming home with his shoe in hand, Sunday August 2, 2015, 2:53 p.m.
He spent the evening in Devenish before catching up with friends before heading back to a friend’s house on Lagmore Avenue.
Also in the title was O’Neill, who did not know Mrs. Dornan until that weekend.
The same camera captured O’Neill – who was 37 at the time and living in his bed on Amcomrie Street – wearing a jacket over his face and staring at Hazel View at 3:12 a.m.
Upon entering Lagmore’s home, O’Neill hit a mother of three in their 30s three times in the chest before setting her bedroom on fire to destroy evidence.
After Mrs. Dornan’s murder, O’Neill fled to Donegal but was captured in Bundoran five days after the murder.
After his conviction, Judge Schofield turned to O’Neill and said, “Mr. O’Neill, I have been convicted of murder and have only one sentence under the law. Respect for this crime.”
“Your sentence will be life imprisonment.”
During the hearing, which was frightening at times, the jury was told that Mrs. Dornan’s charcoal remains had been found in her bedroom.
The discovery was made by firefighters who were called in the morning to put out the fire.
Among the witnesses during the two-month trial was a teen who lost a face-to-face meeting with O’Neill after Ms. Dornan’s murder.
The 13-year-old was at the time with a friend at Mrs. Dornan’s house next door, but left her friend’s house and passed Hazel View at 4:21 a.m. because she was not feeling well and took a taxi back home.
Just three minutes earlier, CCTV recorded O’Neill exiting Mrs. Dornan’s house on his way to White Glen, where he threw the kitchen knife he used to kill Mrs. Dornan in the backyard.
Other witnesses called to testify were friends who had spent the night with Mrs. Dornan a few hours before her murder.
O’Neill’s friend also testified and recalled seeing blood on the accused’s hands shortly after meeting him in the alley earlier in the morning.
That meeting took place on Sunday, August 2, the witness said, after which he and O’Neill went to his mother’s house, where they had more drinks.
In the sixth week of the trial, after reading the story of the case, a new witness appeared.
This witness – the nephew of O’Neill, Shane’s former partner – testified via a video link, saying that in August 2015 he was still with Shane and that on Sunday, August 2, at 5 a.m., O’Neill called and called him. I wake up .
The Belfast son’s mother said Shane opened the door and when O’Neill entered he heard two men talking in the hall.
Asked what he had heard, the witness said, “I heard Raymond walking through the door and telling Shane that someone had killed him and Shane asked him what he meant by killing someone and why he’s doing it.
Raymond O’Neill’s response was that it wasn’t him, but alcohol and drugs forced him to.
O’Neill, who was present in court in a wheelchair, testified and denied killing Mrs. Dornan.
Instead, it was found that he had lost his memory due to a stroke poisoned by prison staff in October 2015.
He said the complete amnesia included the weekend of August 1/2, 2015.
O’Neill denied the 30-year-old’s “genius”, said she “wasn’t really” her type and denied sexually assaulting and stabbing her, then setting her bedroom on fire.
When the killer’s surveillance camera was shown after seeing Hazel, covered with a jacket across his face, he said the man featured in the footage wasn’t him.
He told the jury, “I didn’t commit this murder. I had nothing to do with his murder. I wasn’t there.”
He also claimed that he had no recollection of his arrest in Bundoran, which he again attributed to prison poison.
However, the jury rejected his version of events and convicted him of murder and arson.
Mr. Justice Scofield thanked the six men and women for their dedication and dismissed them from jury service for the rest of their lives.
As the jury left the courtroom, Mrs. Dornan’s family and friends stood up and cheered.
The eight-week trial ended when Judge O’Neill told the tariff hearing will take place on June 24, when he will be determined how long he will spend in prison before being considered by an oversight panel.
Source: Belfastlive
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
