A 40-year-old man has gone on trial accused of the murder of a woman in her home in Ballymun in Dublin almost three years ago.
Brian McHugh, of Cairn Court, Poppintree in Ballymun, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Lisa Thompson, 52, in May 2022.
The court heard Ms Thompson's body was found in her house with stab wounds to her chest and a window blind cord around her neck, after neighbours became concerned.
Prosecuting counsel Fiona Murphy told the jury that Ms Thompson was last seen alive just after midnight at her home at Sandyhill Gardens in Ballymun on 9 May 2022 by a neighbour who had been socialising with her.
At around 2am, another neighbour heard banging coming from outside and saw a man in Ms Thompson’s back garden.
The jury was told the man put three bags in the back of a dark grey jeep.
He walked off and the jeep drove off in the same direction.
The next day, a man who was contacted by a concerned neighbour called to the house just after 3pm and found Ms Thompson’s remains inside the door.
She was discovered with numerous puncture wounds to her chest, Ms Murphy said, and a window blind cord around her neck.
Ms Murphy said gardaí found no signs of forced entry.
She said the rear door was unlocked, an upstairs bedroom was ransacked and two knives were missing from a block in the kitchen.
She told the jury that Mr McHugh knew Ms Thompson.
A post-mortem examination showed that Ms Thompson died from a combination of ligature strangulation and multiple stab wounds to the left side of her chest.
The cord around her neck was forensically examined and showed that Ms Thompson’s DNA could not be excluded as a major contributor to the profiles found, while Mr McHugh could not be excluded as a minor contributor.
Ms Murphy said the chance of the DNA coming from anyone else was one in one thousand million.
Ms Murphy said a woman who owned a grey Hyundai Tucson is seen on CCTV footage pulling up at a nearby laneway at 1.24am on 9 May and a man - who the prosecution say is Mr McHugh - is seen getting out and approaching the front door of Ms Thompson’s house.
At 2.50am the man is seen leaving the area, carrying something in his hands and getting back into the vehicle which was waiting nearby.
The car is seen at a petrol station in Finglas and Mr McHugh is seen showing certain items to the cashier, the jury was told.
Items belonging to Ms Thompson, including her driving licence, house keys and medication, were found nearby.
Mr McHugh’s home was searched and items were seized including jewellery linked to Ms Thompson.
A jewellery valuation certificate linked to her was found in the Hyundai car.
The trial continues tomorrow and is expected to last three weeks.
