THE JURY IN the trial of a man accused of murdering three members of his family at their Co Louth home have been shown videos of his garda interviews after they asked to see the defendant’s “demeanour” in the aftermath of the killings.

Robert O’Connor (32), of Drumgowna, Louth Village, Dundalk, Co Louth, has pleaded not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, or guilty of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility to the triple murder of his mother Louise (56), his father Mark (54) and his younger special needs brother Evan (27) at their home between 28 and 29 September 2025, both dates inclusive.

The Central Criminal Court jury has been told that the accused accepts he caused the death of the three victims, who had sustained a combined 139 stab wounds.

Two consultant psychiatrists, who have given evidence in the trial, are in agreement that Mr O’Connor was suffering from a relapse of schizophrenia when he fatally stabbed his parents and brother.

However, whilst both expert witnesses are of the view that guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility under Section 6 of the Criminal Law Insanity Act 2006 would be an appropriate verdict, they differ on whether the accused qualifies for a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity under Section 5 of the Act.

Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Fiona Toal, called to give evidence by the defence, testified last week that Mr O’Connor did not know what he was doing was wrong and couldn’t refrain from committing the act. She found that the accused met the criteria for a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Whereas consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Ronan Mullaney, called to give evidence by the prosecution, has told the trial that Mr O’Connor met the criteria for a verdict of guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility and does not meet the criteria for the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.

The three criteria for a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity under the Criminal Law Insanity Act 2006 are that an accused did not know the nature and quality of the act, or was unable to appreciate that what they did at the time was wrong or would have been unable to refrain from their actions.

(Clockwise from left) Evan O'Connor, Mark O’Connor, and Louise O’Connor.

The panel have been told by the prosecutor in her opening speech that the “battleground” between the prosecution and defence in the trial is whether Robert O’Connor was insane at the time.

Last Thursday, a note was handed up to Mr Justice Mícheál P O’Higgins by the foreman of the jury, which read “is there any particular reason we cannot see the videos of the interviews of the defendant as we would like to see his demeanour that Monday morning”.

Addressing the panel on Tuesday, the judge said they had made a request to be provided with videos of the accused’s garda interviews, and it was his practice to discuss these requests with counsel.

Mr Justice O’Higgins said the videos would be provided to the jurors and that appropriate clips from the interviews would be played in due course.

The jury of six men and six women spent today watching seven “segments” from the accused’s three garda interviews at Drogheda Garda Station on 29 and 30 September 2025. These segments lasted one hour and five minutes.

The panel have already heard the entirety of the three garda interviews where the accused described to officers how his mother Louise O’Connor had asked him to let his younger special needs brother go as he held them at knife point.

Robert O’Connor also told gardaí in those interviews how after stabbing his brother Evan O’Connor, he tried to walk him out of their home before the victim collapsed beside his mother and held her hand.

The accused further told detectives how he had “dragged” his parents and brother into the garden after stabbing them, but only realised he had done something “terrible bad” hours later.

Before sending the jury home for the evening, the judge told them that the trial is approaching the end of the evidential side of matters and that the case will move to the next phase on Thursday.

In his evidence on Tuesday, Dr Ronan Mullaney said there are a number of very “specific accords” between him and psychiatrist Dr Fiona Toal.

These were that the accused was suffering from a relapse of schizophrenia, that this coincided with a four-to-five-week period of non-compliance with medication as well as intoxication, and that the accused was aware of the nature and quality of the act.

Referring to the second limb of being unable to appreciate that what he did at the time was wrong, Dr Mullaney found the accused had knowledge that the killings were wrong, despite the substantial distortion of his judgment and delusional beliefs. He said the accused had not suffered a complete loss of appreciation that his actions were wrong.

Concerning the third limb of being unable to refrain from his actions, the psychiatrist agreed with the prosecutor that the accused’s ability to regulate his conduct was substantially impaired but did not go as far as being unable to refrain.