The jury in the trial of 74-year-old man Noel Long, who is accused of the murder of Nora Sheehan in 1981, has retired for the night.
Trial judge Mr Justice Paul McDermott said he understood some of them had personal commitments this evening.
Mr Long of Maulbawn, Passage West, Co Cork, has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to the murder of 54-year-old Nora Sheehan at an unknown place in the State between 6 and 12 June 1981.
Her body was found six days after she went missing at The Viewing Point, Shippool Woods in Cork.
The jury of seven men and four women has been deliberating for more than three hours today.
Mr Justice McDermott said he had received a note from the jury this morning asking if any diagram of the injuries Ms Sheehan had received was available to them.
He said this was not available and said they had heard evidence in relation to the injuries she sustained from a doctor and former State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy during the trial.
He told the jury they could request to go through this evidence again after lunch.
When the jury resumed its deliberations after lunch, they said they did not need the judge to again go over evidence given during the trial about the injuries sustained by the deceased.
Yesterday, Mr Justice McDermott told the jury that this had been described as the oldest murder prosecution in the State.
He said there is no statute of limitations for a murder prosecution in Ireland and there had been a delay of 42 years in bringing this matter to trial, he told them.
He said guilt must be established by the prosecution and that Mr Long must be acquitted if there is any reasonable possibility of his innocence.
The trial heard elements relied on by the prosecution included circumstantial evidence.
It also heard that a partial DNA profile from semen obtained from the victim's body in 1981 matched DNA on a beanie hat taken from Mr Long in 2021.
The jury also heard more than 280 exhibits had been lost in the case, something that would not normally happen.
