The Co Clare woman accused of hiring a hitman to kill her partner and his two sons has broken down in tears while giving evidence at the Central Criminal Court.
Sharon Collins said she had done stupid and foolish things, but did not commit the horrendous crime of conspiracy to murder.
Ms Collins of Kildysart Road, Ennis, and Essam Eid, a Las Vegas poker dealer, deny conspiring to murder PJ Howard and his two sons Robert and Niall in August 2006.
The prosecution has told Ms Collins she was putting forward a ludicrous suggestion that a mystery blackmailer had set her up and had access to computers in her home and office.
She was repeatedly questioned about what the prosecution has described as callous emails plotting her partner's death. She said they were shocking but she did not write them.
Ms Collins said that what has happened to her has destroyed her and her children's lives.
She said she had been accused of the most horrendous crime and she did not do it.
The defendant could not explain Internet activity which shows someone accessed her email account, and within minutes accessed the 'lying eyes' email account used to contact the hitman.
Ms Collins also denied carrying out searches for a hitman and described the content of the emails as dreadful.
The trial continues.
