A 35-year-old man has been found guilty of murdering Waterford woman Gillian Curran 18 months ago.
Ms Curran, who was 47 and originally from Sweetbriar in Tramore, was found unresponsive at her partner’s house on the morning of 25 January 2025 and pronounced dead a short time later.
Marcus O’Neill had denied murdering Ms Curran at his home on O’Brien Street in Waterford city.
However this afternoon, a jury of five men and seven women returned a majority 10-2 guilty verdict on the charge of murder.
The trial, which first opened before the Central Criminal Court in Waterford on 7 July, marked the first time that footage from a garda body cam was used as evidence in criminal proceedings.
At the outset of the trial, Senior Counsel for the prosecution Conor O’Doherty said the issue for the jury would be to decide how Ms Curran’s injuries were sustained.
He said the jury would have to decide whether these injuries occurred by accident as outlined by O’Neill to gardaí, or whether they were the result of a violent assault as per what the State had contended.
Mr O’Doherty told the court that O’Neill had been in a relationship with Ms Curran, who he said had struggled with alcohol addiction throughout her life.
He said while Ms Curran did not permanently live with O’Neill at his home on O’Brien Street, she stayed there on occasion – as was the case on the night of 24 January 2025.
Marcus O’Neill denied murdering Ms Curran at his home on O’Brien Street in Waterford city (file pic)
The court heard that gardaí analysed hours of CCTV footage from multiple cameras in the surrounding areas.
Footage played for the jury showed O’Neill and Ms Curran walking in various locations during the evening in question before they returned to O’Neill’s house.
A recording of the 999 telephone call made by O’Neill to gardaí the following morning was also played for the jury.
O’Neill told of finding Ms Curran on the floor and said that he could hear a heartbeat.
During the call, he also said that her breathing was not normal and she was not responding.
Gillian Curran’s death was result of blunt force traumatic injuries – State Pathologist
State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers previously gave evidence that Ms Curran’s death was the result of blunt force traumatic injuries to her head and abdomen.
Dr Okkers, who carried out a post-mortem examination on Ms Curran’s body on 26 January 2025, said she found 143 external bruise and abrasion injuries, as well as more than 20 internal injuries.
She said some of these injuries were consistent with someone who had been in a serious road traffic collision.
Further specialist examination by neuropathologist Dr Francesca Brett had confirmed Ms Curran suffered injuries that resulted from the brain moving within the skull.
During the cross-examination of Dr Okkers’ evidence, Róisín Lacey, Senior Counsel for the defence, outlined O’Neill’s account to gardaí of what happened to his partner after she consumed vodka at his home that evening.
She said O’Neill told gardaí that Ms Curran had fallen straight onto the kitchen table and banged her face and that this occurred a second time before he brought her upstairs.
The court was told Ms Curran fell again going up the stairs and then fell a fourth time after O’Neill put her to bed, and that he did not know what happened to her after that.
The jury also heard evidence from Garda Lorraine O’Dwyer and Garda Paul Gleeson, who were the first gardaí to respond to the scene that morning.
Footage from garda body-worn cameras played for court
Footage from the body-worn cameras belonging to each of the gardaí was played for the court, with Ms Justice Caroline Biggs commenting that it was the first time in the State that this type of footage had been used as evidence in a criminal trial.
Garda O’Dwyer told the court that she arrived at O’Neill’s home at 10.20am on the morning of 25 January 2025.
She described observing Ms Curran lying on the couch in the living room with “significant” injuries to her face and hands, and noticing that a man, identified as O’Neill, was pacing behind the couch.
When the garda asked O’Neill what had happened, he replied that he tried to save her, but she kept “falling and falling”.
Garda O’Dwyer and Garda Gleeson then informed O’Neill that they were turning on their body-worn cameras and brought him into the kitchen, where they cautioned and searched him.
O’Neill explained to gardaí that he woke up that morning and found Ms Curran naked at the bottom of the stairs, so he brought her across the dining room to a couch where he dressed her before ringing the emergency services.
However, the majority of the jury did not accept O’Neill’s account of what had happened at his home on O’Brien Street that night.
The jury foreperson had previously informed the court that the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision.
This afternoon, the jury found O’Neill guilty of murder by a majority 10-2 verdict after deliberating for a total of 12 hours over three days.
Jury found O’Neill had beaten Gillian Curran to death – judge
Ms Justice Biggs said the jury had, by their verdict, found that O’Neill had beaten Ms Curran to death.
The judge thanked the jury for their service during the over three-week trial and said they had dealt with a “large volume” of “very, very dark material”.
She said the jury would need time to decompress, and she would be recommending to their employers that the members of jury should not have to return to work until after the long weekend.
The judge also said she had to commend the gardaí for the work that they had done on the case in terms of both the “quantity and quality” of the evidence that was presented to the jury.
Ms Justice Biggs then adjourned sentencing to 12 October to allow for the preparation of victim impact statements.
The sentence hearing will take place in Dublin on that date when O’Neill will be handed the mandatory life sentence for murder.
However, Ms Justice Biggs said this could be brought forward to September to facilitate Ms Curran’s family if they so wished, or they could be facilitated via video-link in October.
Family relieved by verdict reached by jury
In a statement issued this afternoon, Ms Curran’s family said they were relieved by the jury’s verdict and are happy that justice had been served.
However, the family said they did not deserve to be “dragged through the awful details of her death” because of the not guilty plea of her “brutal, callous killer”.
They said: “From the hundreds of heartfelt condolences we received since her death, it is clear that Gillian was much loved by her friends and colleagues.
“Her siblings and our extended family will never forget her, and will miss her dearly.
“Gillian, like many vulnerable women across Ireland, did not deserve her violent end.
“As a family, we did not deserve to be dragged through the awful details of her death because of the cowardly decision of her callous killer not to plead guilty.
“We are very relieved that the jury has found the defendant guilty, and we thank them for their duty and commitment in this matter.
“We also thank profusely the Waterford gardaí and the Director of Public Prosecutions who fought so hard for justice for Gillian.
“The gardaí have been so kind to the family, and treated us with such respect and dignity throughout the process.
“The past 18 months, and in particular, the last month, have been harrowing for our family, and we thank all who have supported us throughout this period. It is much appreciated.
“We are not the first family to have to confront the effects of domestic violence, and we encourage people to support the work of organisations such as Women’s Aid, who are doing a brilliant job highlighting the issue and providing such important services to combat this scourge on our society.”
“We will always remember Gillian with love and are happy that justice has been served,” the statement from Ms Curran’s family concluded.