Accused cannot explain damage to victim's door and clothes
on 02/11/2009 19:21:30
The defendant in a murder trial could not explain why his victim's front door and clothes were damaged or why she was covered in bruises the morning he strangled her.
Father-of-one Stephen Cahoon (aged 37) of Harvey Street, Derry was being cross examined by the prosecution in his trial for the murder of his 30-year-old ex-girlfriend, Jean Teresa Quigley.
He admits killing the mother-of-four, who was carrying his child. However, he has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to murdering her at her home at Cornshell Fields, Shantallow, Derry on July 26, 2008.
He said he and Ms Quigley asked him to leave after having sex with him twice that morning, when a female friend rang his phone at 3.22am.
He said he wanted to stay with her and his baby, but she said it was not his. This is when he 'snapped' and strangled her.
Patrick Marrinan SC, prosecuting, pointed out that Ms Quigley's inner-front door was damaged and missing screws when her body was found, but that it was in perfect working order a few days earlier.
"Will you admit that you forced it open?" asked Mr Marrinan, but Cahoon said he didn't damage it.
"Maybe one of her children could have locked the door while one of the other children was out," suggested the defendant.
"And the damaged bra and jumper?" asked Mr Marrinan, referring to torn clothing found at the scene. "Did you rip it off her?"
"No," replied Cahoon, saying he could not explain how they were damaged.
"And all the injuries to her body, where did they come from?" asked Mr Marrinan, referring to bruises found on Ms Quigley's head, limbs, wrists and torso.
"I never kicked her. Maybe when I was on top of her," replied the accused.
"Maybe when I pushed her onto the bed, she banged her head off the headboard," he suggested when asked specifically about the bruising on her scalp.
Mr Marrinan said the bruising to her lip was consistent with her either being punched or having a hand held over her mouth.
"I never had my hand over her mouth," replied the defendant.
When asked him why he assaulted her to begin with, considering she had used only words, he said she kept screaming and that he just snapped.
Mr Marrinan asked him what Ms Quigley's reaction was to being strangled and he said she just pushed him off. He said she did not scream and fought back only a little.
Cahoon confirmed that Ms Quigley's face turned purple while he was strangling her.
"And you held her firmly enough to choke her around the neck for the very minimum of a minute," said Mr Marrinan, referring to Cahoon's direct evidence.
The court then went silent for 60 seconds while Mr Marrinan paused to demonstrate how long a minute was. "It's a long time," said the barrister.
"I just wanted her to be quiet," said Cahoon several times.
"She was quiet. If she wasn't able to breath, she was hardly able to talk," replied Mr Marrinan.
The defence's case has now drawn to a close and both sides will give their closing speeches tomorrow morning before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of seven women and five men.