Jurors cannot convict someone on the basis of computer searches, a lawyer for murder accused Patrick Quirke insisted on Tuesday.
The 50-year-old denies killing Bobby Ryan and dumping his body in a tank almost eight years ago.
The part-time DJ known as Mr Moonlight went missing after leaving his girlfriend Mary Lowry’s home on June 3, 2011.
The 52-year-old’s body was found in April 2013 in an underground run-off tank on the Fawnagowan farm in Co Tipperary, which was owned by Ms Lowry and leased by the defendant. Quirke’s lawyer Bernard Condon criticised the Garda and told the jury they had been given substandard evidence due to failures in the investigation.
He asked jurors to imagine themselves or a person they love in Quirke’s position. He said he had done what he could to assist gardai and then had everything interpreted in the worst possible way, being accused based on what Ms Lowry said and “a couple of internet searches”.
Prosecutors said Quirke, from Breanshamore, Co Tipperary, killed Mr Ryan so he could rekindle an affair with the 52-year-old. Mr Condon completed his eight-hour speech to the jury yesterday by asking them to acquit his client.
He urged them to look fairly and with nuance at the evidence that Quirke’s computer was used to search for information on DNA and “human body decomposition” while Mr Ryan was still a missing person. He said they could not convict based on those searches.
The jury will return next Tuesday to hear the judge’s charge from Justice Eileen Creedon before they begin their deliberations.
