A man and a woman have gone on trial at the Central Criminal Court charged with the murder of a 61-year-old father-of-four at his home in Macroom, Co Cork, last year.
At the opening of the trial this morning, the jury was told both defendants blame each other for the injuries inflicted on Michael Foley which led to his death.
Daniel Hourigan, who is originally from Farranree in Cork, and Linda O'Flynn, from Hollyhill in the city, both denied the charge of murdering Mr Foley.
When they were arraigned before a jury of three women and nine men, both defendants replied not guilty to murder but guilty of impeding the apprehension of an offender.
Michael Foley was originally from Clonakilty in West Cork.
He was living at Annville, a small sheltered housing complex on Barrett's Place, near Macroom town centre.
Prosecuting Senior Counsel Jane Hyland told the jury that Mr Foley had some difficulties with drink in the course of his life, but he was described as a man who presented well.
She said he died violently, suffering 11 stab wounds to his body and bruising to his eyes, cheeks and mouth, possibly inflicted with fists.
She said the jury would hear that the cause of death was haemorrhage with shock, due to multiple slash and stab wounds.
Ms Hyland said that at the time of Michael Foley's death, Daniel Hourigan and Linda O'Flynn were in a relationship with each other.
She told the jury they would see CCTV footage gathered as part of the garda investigation, tracking Daniel O'Hourigan and Linda O'Flynn taking a bus from Cork City to Macroom on the evening of 31 January last year. She said the footage would show they were both carrying bags and wearing distinctive clothing.
Ms Hyland said they were captured passing a camera near Michael Foley's home at 8.19pm that evening, and the following morning they made the reverse journey, with Linda O'Flynn passing the camera close to Mr Foley's house first and Daniel Hourigan 90 seconds behind her.
She said they were captured on footage at the bus station with bags at 11.13am.
She said one of those bags was a black bin bag carried by Daniel Hourigan. It was placed in the hold of the bus before he and Linda O'Flynn got on the bus and travelled to the Western Road in Cork City, where they got off.
The black bin bag was left on the bus.
Ms Hyland said the bus driver would tell the jury he found the black bin bag and when he checked inside he found a large knife. When it was later recovered by gardaí, it was found to have Mr Foley's blood on it.
Ms Hyland said both Daniel Hourigan and Linda O'Flynn were subsequently interviewed by gardaí. While both initially denied that they had been in Macroom, by the end of their interviews, they blamed each other for the injuries inflicted on Michael Foley, which led to his death.
She told the jury they would hear evidence that Daniel Hourigan's print was found covered in Michael Foley's blood on an architrave in his home, while one of Linda O'Flynn's finger prints was found on a mug in the kitchen.
Ms Hyland told the jury they will hear evidence that Mr Foley had been living in housing facilitated by the Housing First homeless charity, which supported people who presented with addiction issues.
She said there would be CCTV footage of Michael Foley visiting the post office, Lidl, SuperValu and Dunnes on 31 January last year, with the final image of him alive taken at 8.15 that evening.
She said the jury would hear Mr Foley's body was found on the floor of his kitchen when a key worker visited his home to do a welfare check on him on 6 February.
Ms Hyland said the State's case was that Daniel Hourigan and Linda O'Flynn were involved in a joint enterprise and that at the time they intended to kill or cause serious harm to Mr Foley.
Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford told the jury the trial is expected to run for around a fortnight.
