Today (Wednesday), the suspect in the murder, Raymond O’Neill, heard from his grandson, “I killed someone … alcohol and drugs forced me to do so.”
The 43-year-old woman accused of murdering Jennifer Dornan, 30, a mother of three, was stabbed in her bedroom in her Hazel View home on the morning of Sunday, August 2, 2015.
The crowning glory is that after chasing a 30-year-old girl into Lagmore’s house, O’Neill kills her and then sets her bedroom on fire to destroy evidence.
The 43-year-old, formerly of Belfast’s West Stand, has pleaded not guilty to both murder and arson and is currently on trial.
In the tragic circumstances of events at Belfast Crown Court, a new witness was called to testify and claimed to have heard O’Neill’s confession early in the morning.
He said he called PSNI to “tell the truth” after reading a report on the evidence presented at O’Neill’s nephew’s trial earlier this month.
The witness, a former partner of the defendant’s nephew Shane O’Neill, said that on the day of Ms Dornan’s death, Shane went to a place known locally for “burning goods and moving things.”
The defendant’s nephew, Shane O’Neill, was called to testify at the March 9 trial.
He said he was at Chloe’s Devonshire home in West Belfast in August 2015, and on the morning of Sunday, August 2, his uncle called the house and woke him up.
Shane O’Neill of The Witness Box said that after her uncle called around 5 a.m., he took her for a ride before dropping her off at a friend’s house in Polyglass.
After reading the news about Shane O’Neill’s trials, his ex-partner reached out to PSNI the next day.
He was called to testify today, and when Crown Attorney David McDowell was asked why he had pleaded, he said, “I wanted to tell the police everything I knew.”
When asked what happened on the morning of Sunday, August 2, 2015, he said he and Shane were asleep, but Raymond woke up to a “knocking on the door.”
The son’s mother said Shane opened the door and when Raymond entered he heard two men talking in the hall.
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.
When asked about the accused’s voice during the conversation, the woman replied that he “looked very panicked.”
He said that after hearing the conversation, he “yelled” at Shane and asked him to bring in a cola because he needed a drink.
When asked what happened at that time, he said, “When Shen brought me a drink, he told me to shut up, I didn’t hear anything and I didn’t say anything to anyone.
“I asked to go downstairs and Shane told me I didn’t want to see Raymond in this condition.”
The witness said he stayed in the bedroom but heard two men coming out of the back garden.
He said: I heard an increase in diesel and gasoline canisters. “They seemed to get up and hit each other.”
The Belfast woman said the two men went in her red seat in Ibiza and slept again. She said when she woke up later in the morning, Shane came home.
Through a video link, he said, “I asked Shane what happened and Shane told me Raymond thought he killed someone, and they went on a trip to where the guy was supposed to be, but he wasn’t. So they thought the guy was fine.”
When Mr. McDowell was asked what he and Shane had done the next day, the woman said she had taken her son to the amusement park on the catwalk before Shane headed to McDowell Road.
It’s a dead end, he said, adding that they “thrown things in and burned them and got rid of them.”
After the prosecutor questioned if something happened on the street, the woman said, “Sheen seemed to be looking to see if something was on the ground.”
In a QC questioning of defense attorney Martin O’Rourke, the woman confirmed that her relationship with Shane O’Neill ended last year.
He admitted interference with social services and police incidents in the family home.
O’Rourke was questioned for comments he made about his desire to “destroy” Shane and his family when the relationship broke up.
And when asked more and more questions about the relationship, the various events and the subsequent breakup, the woman said, “That’s why I’m not here today.
“It has nothing to do with my previous relationship. This is to help Jennifer and her family get justice.”
listening
Source: Belfastlive
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