Jury view bloodied, bent knife in trial of husband accused of murdering wife

A jury at the Central Criminal Court has examined physical evidence in the trial of James Kilroy, a fifty-one-year-old park ranger from Westport, County Mayo, who stands accused of murdering his wife Valerie French Kilroy at their home at Kilbree Lower in mid-June 2019. The jurors viewed a twenty-centimetre knife, severely bent at nearly a right angle, which bore the victim's blood. Detective Garda Sergeant Michael Doherty of Castlebar Garda Station provided testimony detailing how the accused demonstrated to gardaí the manner in which the killing occurred and produced a sketch of the weapon in question. Kilroy has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder charge. However, his legal representatives have made formal admissions that he killed his wife. A post-mortem examination established that Mrs French Kilroy, an occupational therapist, died as a result of ligature strangulation, blunt force trauma to the head, and a stab wound to the neck. Her body was discovered in a campervan on the couple's property. The trial, presided over by Mr Justice Tony Hunt, has heard evidence from gardaí who located Kilroy naked in a field near Derrygorman on the morning of 14 June 2019. He subsequently stated that he had killed his wife and was detained under the Mental Health Act. The case has centred on conflicting psychiatric evidence regarding the accused's mental state at the time of the offence. A consultant psychiatrist assessed Kilroy shortly after his arrest and concluded he did not meet the criteria for detention under mental health legislation. The trial remains ongoing.