Jennifer Dornan murder: Raymond O'Neill 'has memory loss after stroke'
- Published
A man accused of the murder of Jennifer Dornan in 2015 says he has no memory of the night in question due to a stroke he suffered after he claimed he was poisoned by prison staff in Dublin.
Raymond Martin Gabriel O'Neill, 43, formerly of Amcomri Street in Belfast, denies the charge.
He was called to give evidence at Belfast Crown Court on Wednesday.
He denied sexually assaulting and stabbing Ms Dornan then setting fire to her bedroom.
Mr O'Neill also claimed he had no memory of travelling to County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland in the days following her death and could not remember being arrested in Bundoran.
This memory loss, he claimed, was due to a stroke he suffered.
Mr O'Neill, who in August 2015, was living at Amcomri Street in Belfast, was called to the witness box by his barrister.
He was asked did he murder Ms Dornan.
Mr O'Neill replied "no", and was then shown CCTV footage of Hazel View in the Lagmore area of west Belfast in the early hours of 1 August, 2015.
The footage, which the Crown allege is Mr O'Neill walking to Ms Dornan's home with his face obscured by his coat - was played to him twice.
When asked by the lawyer "is that you that we can see?", Mr O'Neill answered "definitely not, no".
The defence barrister then asked his client what he recalled about the weekend of Saturday 1 August and Sunday 2 August, 2015, to which he replied "I can't remember anything".
Mr O'Neill claimed he had no memory of being a passenger in a car that picked up Ms Dornan from her home on the Saturday evening, and no memory of them both being present at a house in Lagmore Avenue in the early hours of the Sunday.
When asked if he remembered going to County Donegal in the days following Ms Dornan's death, Mr O'Neill said: "I can't remember travelling to Donegal, never mind being in Donegal."
And when quizzed about his arrest in Bundoran, Mr O'Neill said: "I can't remember being arrested but obviously I was arrested because now I'm here."
Under cross-examination by a Crown barrister Mr O'Neill was asked about his memory loss.
He claimed he had a stroke in October 2016 caused by a drug overdose after he claimed prison staff in Dublin poisoned him by putting methadone in his juice bottle.
Mr O'Neill said that as a result of the stroke, he lost all his memory, and added "let's just say my mother came down to Portlaoise hospital and had to tell me I had two sons, but first she had to tell me she was my mother".
'I didn't kill anybody'
He was asked a series of questions about the weekend of Ms Dornan's death, including how he could be sure he did not kill Ms Dornan, given that he had no memory after the incident in 2016.
Mr O'Neill responded by telling the Crown barrister "take it from me, I didn't kill anybody".
"I'd like to think anybody who killed somebody could remember it.
"It's not my fault. I suffered a stroke and that's what happened to my memory. I apologise to the court for that."
Mr O'Neill claimed he had no memory of his childhood, no memory of his family and no memory of what happened in August 2015 - but said "certain memories" were starting to come back.
Despite his memory loss, Mr O'Neill was able to tell the jury that on the weekend on question "that was the first time I had drunk in years ... maybe 10 to 15 years".
When asked how he could have sustained a wound to his hand which was seen by his friend in the early hours of the Sunday morning, Mr O'Neill said: "I have no memory of how I injured myself."
He was asked "did you take a shine to Jennifer Dornan?" and replied "I can only answer that by saying no".
And when asked "was she your type?", Mr O'Neill said "definitely not".
After saying he "was not attracted in any way" to Ms Dornan, Mr O'Neill was asked how he knew this - given that he had never met her before that night, coupled with his memory loss.
He responded by saying "because I have no interest in any other girl apart from my ex-partner".
The exchange between the prosecutor and defendant continued when Mr O'Neill was again shown CCTV footage from Hazel View.
Accusing Mr O'Neill of being the man on the footage and therefore the murderer, the prosecutor asked if he sexually assaulted Ms Dornan after following her home.
This was denied by Mr O'Neill, who said: "I wasn't the person who committed this murder.
"I had nothing to do with her murder. I wasn't there."
The lawyer accused Mr O'Neill of sexually assaulting Ms Dornan, stabbing her three times with a knife from her own kitchen, then setting fire to her bedroom.
He also accused Mr O'Neill of discarding the knife in a nearby garden, destroying his coat as it has Ms Dornan's blood on it and telling his nephew later that morning that he killed someone.
The cross-examination concluded when the lawyer said: "Mr O'Neill, you did murder Jennifer Dornan, didn't you?", to which the defendant replied: "I didn't murder Jennifer Dornan. Definitely not."