A 21-year-old Cobh man was yesterday given a mandatory life sentence for the murder of his 19-year-old former girlfriend, whose body was found on waste ground two days after she disappeared in the Cork harbour town last summer.
Thomas Kennedy, Russell Heights, Cobh had initially pleaded not guilty to murdering Sheola Keaney in Cobh between July 14th and 16th last, but he changed his plea to guilty on the second day of his trial at the Central Criminal Court in Cork on Tuesday.
Insp Martin Dorney told the court yesterday Sheola had been dating Kennedy from January 2005 until May 2006 when they split up, but they still met around Cobh. In the early hours of July 14th, he rang her after she had gone to a barbecue. The two were seen together at Russell Heights by another couple at 3.30am but when Sheola's mother, Carol, and friends failed to make contact with her later, her mother reported her missing to the Garda.
Carol Keaney told gardaí of Sheola's last-known movements, including the fact that she had been with Kennedy.
Insp Dorney said Kennedy called to Cobh Garda station soon afterwards and said Sheola had stayed at his house but had left at 10am on July 14th and that was the last time he saw her.
Kennedy reiterated this version of events to gardaí on five further occasions and, on July 15th, he suggested to Carol Keaney areas that should be searched. A search was launched and, at around 8.30pm on July 16th, Sheola's body, clad in a T-shirt and shorts, was found in two refuse sacks under iron bars and hedge cuttings near a laneway leading to Cobh Pirates' rugby pitch at Newtown in Cobh.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster concluded from a post-mortem examination that Sheola had died from manual strangulation in association with traumatic asphyxia caused by someone kneeling on her chest and restricting her breathing.
A forensic examination of one of the refuse sacks provided a fingerprint match with a voluntary sample by Kennedy, while a swab taken from Sheola's genital area provided a sample of semen which matched DNA found in a blood sample taken from Kennedy.
Kennedy was arrested on July 21st and told gardaí that, after consensual sex at his home, they went for a walk along the lane. He grabbed her from behind with his left arm and levered it tight with his right, leaving go as they both fell down. He realised she was dead and panicked and hid her body before returning home to get some refuse sacks
"He could give no reason - he said it was just on the spur of the moment," Insp Dorney told prosecution counsel Pat McCarthy SC.
Mr Justice Paul Carney sentenced Kennedy to life imprisonment and said he hoped the swift disposal of the matter in just 11 weeks since Kennedy was returned for trial would be of some assistance to Sheola's family in trying to cope with their loss.
