Month: June 2008

THE ingredients used to make the dangerous poison ricin were listed out in court by Essam Eid’s partner.

Teresa Engle told the trial last Thursday that she and Mr Eid man- ufactured the poison using castor beans, acetone and another ingredi- ent. They then put it into a contact lens case and brought it to Ireland in September 2006.

‘“He’d got a recipe from the inter- net,” she said.

She said they made it with “castor beans, acetone and something else. I can’t remember.”

She told the court she did not know where they had acquired the castor beans.

Mr O’Connell put it to her, “You were involved in the manufacture of ricin,’ to which she replied, “Yes.”

Asked who did it with her, she said, id Bhshcy-0 00

““T think we oiled the beans, took the Skins off, blended it with acetone and something else, put it through a filter, dried it out, to become a powder.”

She said they then put it into a con- tact lens case and there was none leftover.

She said the two had put masks and gloves on, while they were making i

She said that Essam carried the contact lens case in his bag, with his own prescription medicines. She said she was not sure how the ricin was going to be used.

She told the court that “Essam had a website, ‘hitmanforhire’. He got an email from Sharon to kill PJ and his two sons, Robert and Niall. They corresponded. She sent a down pay- ment of, like, €15,000. That would have been in August 2006,” she said.

She said the ‘hitman’ website was set up in February or March 2006. Asked by Prosecutor Tom O’Connell did she see any of the emails, she re- plied, “Yes.”

Asked did Mr Eid use any other name, she replied, “Yes, Tony Lu- ciano. That was the name he used with the website.”

“She had called him several times and he had called her back several times,’ she added.

Asked did she hear this woman speak, she replied, “I heard her voice. It was a very strong Irish accent. She spoke very fast. He kept telling her Slow down, so he could understand her accent.”

Asked what was this woman’s email address, the witness replied, “It was ‘lyingeyes’.”

She said that after the money ar- rived at their home in Las Vegas, the

next stage was “Essam getting hold of Ash and going through with it, getting it done.”

Asked how this was to be done, she replied, “Ash was supposed to be poisoning the sons.”

Asked by Mr O’Connell did any- body else contact the hitman website during this time, she said, “Yes, there was another woman. There were sev- eral people who contacted it to look for work.”

Ms Engle told the trial that she and Mr Eid stayed at the Two Mile Inn hotel in Limerick, when they trav- elled to Ireland in September 2006.

‘He had instructions from Sharon that he had to get the hard drive of the computer in the office. The keys (to the office) were under a brick be- hind a house 1n Ennis,” she said.

She said they picked up the keys and then went into the office to get the computer.

“There was an alarm, but we did have the code from Sharon to turn off the alarm,” she said.

She said they got the main compu- ter hard drive, laptop and a bunch of cords from the office and they took those items back to the hotel.

She said that Essam was trying to reach Sharon but “I don’t think he was able to. He was quite furious. Then he decided instead to go to Robert and sell him the contract.”

She said she travelled with him to Robert’s house and she stayed in the car while he went to the door.

TERESA Engle participated in an alleged plot to kill three Ennis busi- nessmen because she was controlled by her partner Essam Eid, she told the trial last Thursday.

She made the claim during cross- examination by Mr Eid’s barrister David Sutton, who put it to her that she was a “criminal and a fraudster. Do you agree with me?” She said, “No, I do not.”

“You scammed your way out of it by either telling lies or saying noth- ing and you successfully got off scot- free. .. Star witness for the prosecu- tion,’ said Mr Sutton.

‘“That’s not true. I gave my state- ment and agreed to testify here with- out immunity and against the advice

of my attorney who told me not to speak here,’ said Ms Engle.

Mr Sutton asked her did she have access to the ‘hitmanforhire’ website and she said she did.

“Only a fool of the highest order would think it was a serious website,” said Mr Sutton, to which she replied, ‘“That’s why I was so amazed when she sent the money.”

“You had a mug. You had someone who was stupid enough to log onto the website and someone who was stupid enough to send on the money,” said Mr Sutton.

She replied, “I couldn’t believe it.”

Mr Sutton said, “This piece of non- sense was a plot to kill?” she replied, ‘“That’s what it was.”

‘The reason you are saying that is because you are trying to do your-

self a favour in America, where you have pleaded guilty through another shakedown. You are dressing this up as a plot to kill for your own conven- ience and your own advantage,’ said Mr Sutton.

“No, that was what it was,’ replied WeCom Ua LB OTE

“You never intended to do any of this. There was no plan. Ms Engle, you are an incompetent criminal, yes or no?” said Mr Sutton.

“I was merely participating to the extent that I was controlled by Es- sam,’ said Ms Engle.

“Mr Eid was not involved in the plot to kill,” said Mr Sutton.

Ms Engle replied, “That’s ridicu- etna

“Ridiculous is the word because everything you have said to the jury

and the trial is ridiculous,” concluded Mr Sutton.

Os iYeCSmea Keer cc eebbit-lelOsMOnO seme) erste ron Collins barrister Paul O’ Higgins SC, Ms Engel said she was “under Essam’s direction”.

“IT agreed to give evidence here without the immunity and against the advice of my own attorney,’ she renee

Mr O’Higgins asked her why her sentencing hearing for extortion in the US had been adjourned. She said she had sought this, in order to spend DDONCoM UALR MOC MB E-TOONE AYA

“Can I suggest to you it was ad- journed because you hadn’t given evidence in this case?” he asked. She denied this.

“Aren’t you at the mercy of the US authorities as to what evidence you

give here?” asked Mr O’Higgins, but she also denied this.

“What else have you agreed to do? Have you agreed, for example, to act in an undercover capacity for the US attorney’s office and to tap phones and that kind of thing, if required to do so?” asked the barrister.

She replied, “Yes I did that.”

“You have referred repeatedly to Sharon as though you somehow knew Sharon Collins, the defendant in this case. Have you ever met Sharon Col- lins at all?” asked Mr O’ Higgins.

She replied, “No, I have not, at all.”

“All you are doing, far from telling the truth, 1s seeking to advance your position in the proceedings in the US,” said Mr O’Higgins, to which she replied, “That’s absolutely not true.”

DETECTIVE Sergeant Michael Gub- bins told the trial last Friday that he forensically examined an Advent computer which was stolen from the office of Howards’ property business.

He said he had found certain files corresponding to keywords relating to the case. Some were documents stored in the computer’s temporary memory cache during internet us- age. These files related to the email address Lyingeyes98@yahoo.ie and showed an increasingly flirtatious correspondence between Lyingeyes and hire_hitman@yahoo.com.

Det Sgt Gubbins said a file show- ing the inbox of Lyingeyes98 showed a welcome email from Yahoo, dated

August 2, 2006.

Also on August 2, an email had been sent from sharoncollins@eircom.net.

On August 3, a file cached from the website Hitmanforhire.us showed a form filled out. The name was given as Sn Cronin with an email address at Lyingeyes98. The country was listed as Ireland and the space criminal ex- perience had been filled in “no”. At “criminal record” the reply had been given “Not yet”.

Whoever filled the form in said they wanted to “make money doing some- thing useful”.

Det Sgt Gubbins read out the text of several emails that had been found in the computer’s memory, showing pages from the web-based email ac- count for Lyingeyes98.

Successive emails between B Lyons at Lyingeyes, some of which were signed Sharon and Tony Luciano at hire_hitman were found.

On August 8, the computer user booked a flight to Malaga in the name of Sharon Collins and ac- cessed the Eircom email account for Ms Collins. The Lyingeyes email ac- count was logged into seconds after the user logged out of the Sharoncol- lins account.

He said the user also visited the AIB website several times, getting a quote for a personal loan for be- tween €17,000 and €20,000. They also bought a three-month supply of the weight loss drug Reductil from an online pharmacy website in the name of Sharon Collins.

At 10.0lpm the user visited a page on the Hitmanforhire.net website which gave details “how to order a contract killing”.

The user kept searching for the terms “assassins for hire, assassina- tion’, revisiting the Hitmanforhire. us site at 10.11pm and clicked on the Submit button on the contact page.

In one email dated August 15, Lyin- geyes asked hire_hitman about a dis- claimer at the bottom of the website Hitmanforhire.us, which said that the website was a “parody”.

On August 14, an email from Tony Luciano asked B Lyons to send mon- ey to T Engle at 6108 Camden Cove Street, Mr Eid’s Las Vegas address. The court previously heard from Mr Eid’s partner Teresa Engle, who lived

ALO MODUOOMcIimDOr-lmr-Ke(60ucntour-lm Neem BDOOISs

The email gave bank details for an account in the name Essam Eid.

A reply written in the inbox of Lyin- geyes98 mentioned being nervous about sending a package. “I have de- cided to parcel up the money. I will probably put something else in it so it looks like a present. I will also put in the photos and the keys.”

Det Sgt Gubbins said he had also found several photographs in the computer’s memory. There were photographs of PJ, Robert and Niall Howard as well as Sharon Collins. There was also a photograph of Mr Eid in an open top car. Det Sgt Gub- bin said that this file name corre- sponded to an attachment to an email from Tony Luciano to Lyingeyes.

AN Irish soldier has told the trial that he contacted a website advertising contract killings because he thought it was a joke.

Private Brian Buckley told prose- cuting counsel, Una Ni Raifeartaigh he had found the site Hireahitman.us while searching for cheat codes for the Hitman computer game.

Pvt Buckley said he was using the computer at his mother’s house in Ennis when he came across the web- site. It was top of the list of Google

search results so he assumed it was the site he was looking for.

He said the homepage of the site made him think is was an internet prank. “I saw a cartoon animation of a man with a gun. He was wearing a hat, sunglasses and had a pistol. It was a cartoon drawing.”

Pvt Buckley said he looked further into the website until he came to a kind of application form. “Out of my own curiosity or my own stupidity I decided to fill out the form.”

Using the email address Judas69@gmail.com he filled out

the form, giving a false telephone number and a false name, Will Buckimer.

He said there was no significance in either name and the number 69 meant nothing.

Using the application form on the website he filled in fictitious skills. He listed handgun, rifle, sub machine gun, shot gun, sniper, heavy gun, heavy machine gun, grenades, basic booby traps and limited poisons.

He said this was not a true answer, with the exception of rifle and gre- nades.

He said he made first contact with the website on July 29, 2006 and re- ceived a reply from a Tony Luciano on August 10.

The reply read, “I have a job for you if you are interested. Two males in Ireland and one in Spain. ASAP. Let us know. We will try and call you. Thanks. Tony Luciano.”

Pvt Buckley agreed that he had provided his mobile number, but had never at any stage thought the website was serious. He said he “just wanted to see where it would go”.

On August 28 he received another

email from Tony Luciano. “Please help us out for this. I need some strong poison. One of us will be in Shannon. We cannot shift this stuff for security reasons – you know that – so please help us out. Will pay and I will owe you favourite. Thanks brother. Tony.”

Pvt Buckley said that this email made him feel uneasy and he decided to distance himself. He received sev- eral communications from the man calling himself Tony Luciano but would not talk to him and kept tell- ing him he had the wrong number.

A POLISH man who has spent the past two months in custody has been granted bail after a court heard that a voluntary group for homeless people would support him.

Piotr Baran (30), of no fixed abode, appeared before Ennis District Court on Friday, on public order charges.

The court was told he has spent the past two months in custody and was seeking bail.

Josephine O’Brien told the court that she set up a voluntary organi- sation called ‘Help’ and supports homeless people in Ennis.

She said that she was aware of a place where the accused could stay, over the weekend, if granted bail. It was hoped that the Health Service Executive would then be in a posi- tion to find accommodation for Mr Baran.

“T’ll take responsibility for him. He will have to stay away from his old drinking partners. They don’t do him any good. I’m certainly not giving him any more chances,” she said.

Defending solicitor Daragh Has- sett said that Ms O’Brien had made a very good point in relation to the company the accused keeps.

Inspector Tom Kennedy said he supported Mr Hassett in his applica- wlOyee

“Mr Baran has a dreadful addic- tion to alcohol. He seems to be off it now,” he said.

Judge Joseph Mangan granted bail to Mr Baran, to re-appear in court on Due hs

A 61-year-old north Clare man ac- cused of 10 counts of indecent as- sault in the 1960s has been returned for trial to the Circuit Court.

The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is facing nine charges of indecently assaulting a

female and one charge of indecently assaulting a male, in north Clare.

The alleged offences occurred be- tween January 1, 1964 and June 6, RTese2

At Ennis District Court on Friday, the Book of Evidence was served and the accused was returned for trial to Ennis Circuit Court.

A 20-year-old man from the Czech Republic has been charged in con- nection with a €45,000 haul of can- nabis in Ennis last week.

Michal Karchnak, of Lenabeg, La- hinch Road, Ennis, is charged with possession of cannabis resin and possession for sale or supply, at his

home, last Friday, June 13.

He was brought before a special sit- ting of Ennis District Court on Satur- day. Garda Stephen Hession told the court the accused did not make any reply, when charged at Ennis Garda Station the previous evening.

Defending solicitor Daragh Hassett sought bail for his client, who has lived with his mother in Ennis for

the past two years. He said that the case will be going forward for trial and there will be an “obvious delay” due to the preparation of the Book of Evidence.

He said the accused was co-op- erative with gardai and Gda Hession said that “certain admissions were made.”

Gda Hession told the court that

while the accused was in custody, he became aware that a bench warrant was in existence for him.

However, Mr Hassett said, “The bench warrant comes as a surprise to the defendant.”

Mr Hassett applied for free legal aid for the defendant, who works part-time as a stonemason. However the application was deferred until a

later date.

“He is from the Czech Republic. He’s going to meet this case fairly and squarely,” said the solicitor.

However, Inspector Tom Kennedy said the State would be opposing bail, based on the seriousness of the charges. Judge Joseph Mangan re- manded the accused in custody to re- appear in court later this month.

A 30-year-old Kildare man has been brought before a special sitting of Ennis District Court, charged with assaulting a woman in Shannon last WElCE hs

Daniel Darcy, of Tannery Wharf,

Rathangan, County Kildare, is ac- cused of assaulting Bernadette Phiri, at Tullyvarraga, Shannon, on June 13 EWSe

He was also charged with steal- ing a jeep at Ballymore Road, Naas, County Kildare, last Thursday, June 12.

At Saturday morning’s court sit- ting, Inspector Tom Kennedy sought to remand the accused in custody.

“Mr Darcy was found in Shannon yesterday evening with a stolen jeep. He was charged with that and bailed to court next Thursday. Very shortly after his release, he went to the town

centre in Shannon and is alleged to have assaulted a lady in her car,” said Inspector Kennedy.

Defending solicitor Daragh Has- sett said his client would be pleading guilty to stealing the vehicle. How- ever he said the assault allegation would be contested.

“Mr Darcy will say he merely asked someone for a light,” he said.

Seeking bail, Mr Hassett said, “He is certainly not shying away from the Ot Neon

Judge Joseph Mangan remanded the accused in custody, to re-appear in court later this week.

THREE men who stole the base of a bed from an Ennis apartment walked along a busy part of the town, carry- ing it, in the early hours of the morn-

ing. But they were noticed by gardai and one of them was charged and brought before a court last Friday. Adam Considine (18), of Stone Court, Ennis, pleaded guilty to en- tering a building, the Old Mill apart-

ments, as a trespasser and stealing the base of a bed, on May 5 last.

The court was told that the prop- erty was recovered. Inspector Tom Kennedy told Ennis District Court that the accused and two others went

into a new apartment that was being iu heacXor6 O)UL

‘They took a new bed and proceed- ed to come down the Parnell Street carpark,’ he said. The incident oc- curred at 2am and the accused was

spotted by gardai. Defending solic1- tor Tara Godfrey said the trio were likely to be caught.

Judge Joseph Mangan adjourned the case for preparation of a proba- tion report.

A PATIENT has absconded from the Ennis acute unit 25 times over the past three months, while he also as- saulted a nurse and a fellow patient.

The revelation emerged at Ennis District Court on Friday as a lead- ing consultant psychiatrist said that some people who suffer from a men- tal illness are being inappropriately criminalised because of the lack of facilities available west of the Shan- non.

Clare-based psychiatrist Dr John O’Mahony made the remarks in the case of David Mulcaire (35), a resi- dent at Ennis Acute Unit, and with an address at St Senan’s Road, En- nis, who appeared in court facing a criminal damage and a public order charge, arising out of an incident at Harmony Row, Ennis, last Thursday, June 12.

He had previously appeared in court on theft charges and has been an inpatient at Ennis General Hospi- tal for some time.

“Since March, Mr Mulcaire has absconded from our unit on 25 oc- casions. His behaviour has become assaultive. The facts speak for them- selves. 25 elopements from our unit since last March is impossible to manage. We cannot contain him and the people best placed to deal with

him are in the Central Mental Hos- pital,” he said.

He said Mr Mulcaire’s behaviour was of huge concern to the hospital staff and the public at large and he would suggest that he be brought to the Central Mental Hospital in Dun- drum.

‘There is no forensic services out- side the Dublin area. That in itself is a bone of contention. In the mean- time, unfortunately, Mr Mulcaire is a victim in all of this,” he said.

Dr O’ Mahony said that the Nation- wide Health Resources Corporated had assessed Mr Mulcaire and would be in a position to provide him with care. However, this would come at a huge cost, which the Health Service Executive wouldn’t be able to pay, he said.

Defending solicitor Billy Loughnane said, “If we did have ac- cess to such a facility last Novem- ber you would have Mr Mulcaire placed in that facility and the assault wouldn’t have happened and the in- cident yesterday wouldn’t have hap- pened. The State has failed him.”

Dr O’Mahony replied, “There are no facilities available for him. I have to agree, yes. Mr Mulcaire is not alone. People who suffer from a men- tal illness are being inappropriately criminalised because of the lack of facilities. I have no problem saying

that in public and under oath.”

“T can express my frustration at the lack of facilities for patients who have come in contact with the law. It is reasonable that people should receive treatment as close to their homes as possible. These facilities do not exist,” he said.

Previously the court heard that Mr Mulcaire suffered a serious brain trauma in 1999, when he was hit in the head with a concrete block.

Mr Mulcaire repeatedly interrupt- ed as Dr O’Mahony was giving evi- dence last Friday and was removed from the court. When the court re- turned to the case later in the after- noon, the defendant asked for it to be finalised.

“IT know I have spent time in the acute unit over the past seven years, a few months here and a few months there. Maybe I needed it at the time. I just want to get on with my life. I want you to give me my sentence and get it over with,” he told Judge Joseph Mangan.

“T was working from the age of six to 29. I got a knock on the head. It’s far from mad I am,” he said.

The judge remanded him in custody to re-appear in court next Friday and ordered that a report from a forensic psychiatrist be carried out.