US man told father he would ‘always love him’ as he strangled him at Ballyfin Demesne, court hears – The Irish Times

A US national described “in detail” how he strangled his 66-year-old father with his bare hands and told him he would “always love him as he had his last breath”, an hour after arriving at a Midlands resort, a Central Criminal Court jury has heard.

Opening the trial of Henry McGowan, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his father by reason of insanity, the prosecuting barrister also said despite being notified by the UK’s Metropolitan Police the accused was travelling to Ireland and there was some concern for his welfare, gardaí failed to locate him at Dublin Airport.

The jury also heard the accused was under the delusion the person he was killing was not his father but “an impostor”. Expert psychiatrists for both the prosecution and defence were in agreement that Henry McGowan was experiencing a relapse of schizoaffective disorder when he killed his father.

McGowan (31), with an address at Clinton Street, Brooklyn, New York, in the US, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of John McGowan (66) at Ballyfin Demesne, Ballyfin, Portlaoise, Co Laois, on November 12th, 2024.

Opening the prosecution’s case on Tuesday, Will Fennelly BL said the trial would hear from expert consultant psychiatrists for both the prosecution and defence, who have the same opinion that a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity was open to the jurors.

Fennelly said shortly before 8pm on November 12th, 2024, investigators received a phone call alerting them to an incident which occurred in a cubicle off the swimming pool at the five-star hotel in Co Laois.

Fennelly said the jury would hear gardaí went to the hotel after 8pm and found John McGowan in a state “of at least serious injury, if not death”.

Emergency services arrived and John McGowan was pronounced dead in due course.

Shortly before 11pm on November 11th, Henry McGowan arrived at Dublin Airport from London.

He said gardaí had looked for him at the airport following a notification from the Metropolitan Police but gardaí could not locate him.

At 8.30am on November 12th, he presented himself at the Mater hospital’s emergency department.

Henry McGowan told medical staff he was having mental health challenges and was seeking some assistance. In the meantime, counsel said John McGowan was en route from the US because his son Henry had been in phone communication from Paris with his family in the preceding days.

“There was an exchange between the accused and family members, which caused considerable concern as to his welfare,” Fennelly said.

Giving evidence on Tuesday, Det Insp Diarmaid Lawlor told Brendan Grehan SC, prosecuting, that John McGowan was a successful businessman who worked on the New York Stock Exchange.

He said Henry McGowan graduated from the University of Virginia and worked for a technology firm. The accused was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2022 and has no previous convictions.

When the accused presented himself at the Mater hospital he told doctors he was talking to God who was telling him what to do, Lawlor said. He said the defendant was on and off his antipsychotic medication.

The accused’s father told doctors in the hospital his son had been hypomanic for six months and that he had come to Ireland as he was concerned Henry was manic.

The detective said the accused admitted to the doctors he had a historic diagnosis of cannabis use and a family history of bipolar affective disorder. Lawlor said doctors didn’t feel he met the threshold for admission into a psychiatric unit at the time.

John McGowan arrived at Dublin Airport from New York on November 12th and went to his son at the hospital around midday, Fennelly said.

The evidence will be that a prescription was issued for the accused’s mental health difficulties and that both men left the hospital at 3.40pm.

The McGowans then took a taxi to Ballyfin Demesne.

The manager found the accused perfectly normal and engaging, said the barrister. The accused was later shown to the pool and given a pair of swimming togs. The court will hear evidence that shortly afterwards, a member of staff observed the accused walking along the poolside naked and notified the manager.

In the interim, John McGowan had also gone to the swimming pool area and was observed on CCTV speaking to his son. The accused put on a robe before both men went into the cubicle area. Counsel said the father and son remained in there for a number of minutes, after which the accused emerged naked and jumped into the pool. He then got out, wrapped a towel around him and left the area.

When the manager inquired about the accused’s father, counsel said the jury would hear Henry McGowan said “he is not my father”. The court will hear the manager went back down to the pool’s dressing area, where he found John McGowan lying on the ground.

His body and upper head was covered with a robe and there was a pool of blood. Two staff members performed CPR but he was pronounced dead by a doctor shortly after this.

Fennelly said gardaí arrived at the hotel around 8.15pm and found the accused sitting in the library, looking at a fire,dressed in his father’s clothes. When asked what happened, he told gardaí he had hurt his father. “I killed who I thought was my father … downstairs I hit his head against the wall and strangled him,” he said.

The accused was formally arrested. Fennelly said the cause of death was asphyxia due to manual strangulation and compression of the mouth.

Henry McGowan was interviewed on four occasions by gardaí, where he told them he had been diagnosed with a bipolar condition at 27.

Counsel said the accused told detectives he had strangled his father in a bathroom and had told him he would “always love him as he had his last breath”.

When asked in interview what had happened, the accused told gardaí he killed “who he thought was not his father, hit his head against a wall and strangled him”.

In his interviews with gardaí he said he felt like he had to claim his life back from his father.

The defendant told gardaí his father had started yelling at him like a child because he was naked.

“He said I had to take my medication, to me it felt like he was forcing me, I didn’t follow the plan,” he said.

The accused said his father’s anger made him “super angry” and then he killed him.

The trial continues on Wednesday before Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of six men and six women.

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