Overview
- The Central Criminal Court jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict after more than six hours of deliberation, rejecting a special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
- Ms Justice Karen O’Connor imposed the mandatory life sentence and commended the family’s dignity during harrowing evidence.
- The State Pathologist reported death by manual strangulation with blunt-force head trauma, with injuries consistent with multiple blows.
- Garda evidence included items recovered from fires near Ross Castle and from Burns’s rucksack that matched the victim’s clothing and DNA, supported by extensive CCTV analysis.
- Prosecutors said the killing stemmed from long-term drug and alcohol misuse and anger toward the victim, with the court hearing of 42 prior convictions and drug sourcing before the attack.