Tipperary pensioner 'caught her killer', court hears

An 89-year-old woman who was murdered in her home in Co Tipperary two years ago, "caught her killer", a jury at the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Josephine 'Josie' Ray did not go down without a fight, the jury was told in the closing arguments of the trial of Hasan Ali Gori, 52, who has pleaded not guilty to her murder.

It is the prosecution's case, led by Lorcan Connolly SC, that Josie Ray was suffocated and strangled in her bedroom in St Joseph's Park, Nenagh, on August 4, 2024.

In his closing statement to the jury, Mr Connolly said the pensioner's one final act on earth was to defend herself, causing injuries to her arms, and in doing so, she caught her killer.

He told the jury that Mr Gori's DNA had been found under her fingernails.

Mr Connolly told the jury that the accused had motive to murder Ms Ray because "he was at risk of losing the roof over his head".

Ms Ray was trying to protect her daughter Mary with whom the defendant was in a relationship, the senior counsel said.

The jury was told that Mr Gori got lucky when he struck up a relationship with Mary Ray, whom the court has heard has an intellectual disability.

He said Mary was indispensable to the accused as she provided a roof, a bed and €154 a week through her disability allowance.

The court was told that Tipperary County Council "was closing in" because the accused was not a registered tenant of the property, and his "financial and accommodation lifeline was on the hook".

During his closing speech, Mr Connolly described Josie Ray as a formidable 89-year-old who had involved herself in some arguments between the defendant and her daughter. He said Ms Ray was able to use some choice language and there were overtones in the manner in which she treated him.

Mr Connolly said Mr Gori had told gardaí that he went to sleep at 9pm, the night before Josie was murdered, and he failed to mention the gardaí calling to the house.

He said the defendant "airbrushes a lot of details out".

The barrister said that the jury had heard evidence that the defendant had used his phone between 4.23am and 4.29am on the morning of Josie Ray's murder, when he said he got up to go to the toilet.

He said when Josie was discovered dead, he didn't ring an ambulance. "There was a woman dead in the bed and he didn't ring the ambulance. He didn't go for a look."

He told the jury how they had heard evidence from a neighbour who overheard Mr Gori tell Mary Ray, "She was old and going to die anyway."

The senior counsel said the accused was "wholly indifferent to Josie's death and Mary's grief".

In his closing statement, Aidan Doyle SC on behalf of the defence, said the pensioner had suffered 45 injuries during the murder.

He asked the jury, "Would a big strong man with an objective of murdering a slight, frail 89-year-old, inflict that kind of damage?"

Mr Doyle said a three-and-a-half-hour recording which was played to them during the trial shows that Mary Ray was "possessive, jealous and kind of desperate".

He said that might be a feature of her learning difficulties.

The defence barrister told the jury that they had heard evidence of Mary Ray breaking the bathroom door to stop Mr Gori being on the phone and they had heard more than one complaint of violence by Mary Ray towards her mother.

He said a former neighbour had given evidence of constant noise and arguments in the house before Mr Gori lived there, which were always about Mary bringing African men back to the house.

Mr Doyle said the audio recording also captured Mary telling her sister that "Josie told the guards that he has to leave".

"I suggest to you that this had Mary in a wound-up state of panic," Mr Doyle said.

He told the jury that they must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant murdered Josephine Ray.

The senior counsel told the jury that there was an alternative explanation.

"How do the guards know that Mary Ray didn't do this?" he asked. "Why was she dropped from the investigation?"

He pointed out to the jury that they had not heard from her.

Mr Doyle said, "People with learning disabilities are in court every day of the week giving evidence in this country", adding that supports are in place to help people with learning disabilities give evidence.

Mr Doyle said the defence do not have to prove that Mary Ray murdered Josephine Ray. He said the onus was on the prosecution to prove the guilt of Mr Gori.

"But if you think that's even possible then you have to acquit," he told the jury.

The jury of nine men and three women is expected to begin their deliberations tomorrow.