The trial of a man accused of the murder of a 64-year-old Cork father-of-three has learned the deceased’s head was found in a bag in the grounds of an abandoned house.
The court heard that his body was discovered under a tree on the property, while his hands, which had been removed from his body, were “draped over the branch of a tree,” reports The Irish Mirror.
Ionat Cosmin Nicolascu (30) of Branistia, Dambovita county in Romania is on trial at the Cork Central Criminal Court for the murder of Francis ‘Frankie’ Dunne.
Mr Dunn was found mutilated and headless in the back garden of an old house on Borremanna Road in Cork in December 2019. Mr Nicolaescu was working as a chef in Cork city during this time.
The trial heard evidence from crime scene examiner Garda Stephen Dennehy who told the jury that the late Mr Dunn’s hands were found “draped over a branch of a tree” in the garden of Castlegreen House on 28 December 2019. He felt they were “not thrown randomly” and it looked “like they were placed there,” reports The Irish Mirror.
Garda Dennehy said Garda found the deceased’s head in a bag while his clothes were found in another bag. Prosecuting attorney, Ray Boland, SC, asked Garda Dennehy to provide a description of the bag with the head.
He initially didn’t believe what he saw under a bush at Castlegrain House and through it was a sacred effigy or statue. They also searched some nearby houses for their elderly cat, but to no avail. He makes his way to the grounds of the abandoned house in a last ditch effort to find his elderly cat.
Evidence was also provided today by Tadhg Hennessy Burke, an off-licence employee at ‘The Office’ on Douglas Street in Cork.
He saw photos of Mr Dunn in the media after his body was found in the grounds of an abandoned house by its owner after he moved into a care home in 2017, reports The Irish Mirror.
Mr. Hennessy Burke said he recognized Frankie, who he didn’t know by name.
“I just remember the victim coming into the off licence as he usually did. I knew his face. He was in about three or four nights a week and we would chat,” reports The Irish Mirror.
The jury also heard testimony from Christine O’Regan who visited the area around Boreenmanna Road on the evening of 27 December 2019. She said a “suspicious” looking male had entered the garden of Castlegreen House that evening.
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