'Shoot me' - Detective tells trial of moment he encountered Louth triple murder accused
Robert O'Connor (32), of Drumgowna, Louth Village, Dundalk, Co Louth, has pleaded not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, or guilty of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility to the triple murder of his paretns and younger brother Evan O'Connor (27) at their home in Drumgowna.
A detective has told a jury of the moment a triple murder accused put his bloodied hands behind his back and advanced at gardai shouting "shoot me", hours after he fatally stabbed his parents and younger special needs brother at their family home in Co Louth.
The Central Criminal Court trial has also heard that the accused asked a detective "what kind of time" he was looking on the way to the garda station.
Robert O'Connor (32), of Drumgowna, Louth Village, Dundalk, Co Louth, has pleaded not guilty of murder by reason of insanity, or guilty of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility to the triple murder of his mother Louise O'Connor (56), his father Mark O'Connor (54) and his younger brother Evan O'Connor (27) at their home in Drumgowna between September 28 and 29 2025, both dates inclusive.
In her opening address, Roisin Lacey SC, prosecuting, said the accused had episodes of psychosis from a young age and was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2018. The barrister said the "battleground" between the prosecution and defence in the trial was whether the accused qualifies for the special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
The panel have also been told that the accused accepts he caused the death of the three victims, who sustained a combined 139 stab wounds.
Giving evidence to the trial today, Detective Garda Gerard Nixon said he was informed at 9.40am on September 29 that two bloodied bodies had been found in the garden of Drumgowna and were possibly deceased. The detective was informed one of the occupants of the house had schizophrenia.
Det Gda Nixon said he was travelling in an unmarked patrol car with a colleague through Phillipstown and in the direction of Tallanstown, when they saw a man in a black hoodie and wearing white headphones coming towards them.
Det Gda Nixon told the man he was an armed guard. The man said his name was Robert and was looking for them. The accused took his hands out of the pockets of his hooded top and put them behind his back.
The detective said the accused, who was about three meters away, had advanced towards him and shouted at him: "Shoot me, shoot me, shoot me".
The witness said the accused was aggressive and angry. "I told him no one is going to be shot here today."
Det Gda Nixon gave the accused instructions to put his hands up and kneel on the ground, which he said Robert O'Connor had refused to comply with a number of times.
When the accused finally put his hands over his head, the officer could see dried blood on his hands.
The detective said his colleague cautioned the accused and placed handcuffs on him before searching him for a knife.
No weapon was found on the accused. When the handcuffs were removed, Robert O'Connor said he wanted to sit down and gardai offered him the back seat of the patrol car.
The accused then told the officers: "I killed them. I killed my father, mother and brother. I slashed my mother in the face and she gave me a look, I could see the reflection of my dad in her face. My mother wanted to go to the bathroom. My father was behind her, I then killed my father and brother".
When the detective asked Robert O'Connor why he had done this, the accused said there was a row over drugs and that he only meant to kill his father and brother.
The detective said the accused had asked another colleague, Detective Sergeant Paul Gill "what kind of time" he was looking at on the way to Drogheda Garda Station.
Under cross-examination, the detective agreed with Michael Bowman SC, defending, that the defendant's immediate response was to say "shoot me" and that he had continued to advance and shout loudly a number of times.
The next witness, Garda Shane O'Malley, told the panel that he was the driver of the unmarked patrol vehicle accompanied by the last witness as they were driving towards Tallanstown.
Gda O'Malley said the accused's hands were covered in blood. "He had his hands out, but kept trying to put them into his pockets or behind his back".
The officer told the accused he was an armed guard and said Robert kept trying to put his hands into his pockets as if he was looking for a weapon.
He said the accused went on to tell him he had lost his head and only meant to kill his father and brother and not his mother.
In his direct evidence, Detective Sergeant Gill said when he arrived at Phillipstown that morning, Robert O'Connor was sitting in the back of the garda patrol vehicle.
He noted blood-staining on the accused's hands but none on his clothing.
The officer said the first thing Robert said to him was that he was sorry.
When asked by Det Sgt Gill to explain in his own words what he meant by this, the accused said he was sorry for killing his mother and that he had also killed his father and brother, but was not sorry for that.
The officer said the accused also stated: "My mother got in the way, I stabbed her in the forehead in the sitting room of our home. We had an argument at the kitchen table over my brother, he cannot talk properly."
He told the jurors that Robert also said: "I stabbed my mother, I stabbed my father with the kitchen knife from the block of five knives on the kitchen counter, I left when I stabbed my father and mother. I went back for my brother and stabbed him like a blood bag."
Det Sgt Gill said the accused told him a lot of times on their journey to Drogheda garda station that he was sorry for stabbing his mother to death but not sorry for his father and brother.
The accused also told Det Sgt Gill that he had been using cocaine lately and had bought 'Wildcat', which the witness said he understood to be synthetic cocaine.
He said Robert also said he wasn't happy that what he bought was 'Wildcat', when it was actually salt.
The detective said the accused had expressed a lot of remorse on the car journey, was very upset and cried for at least half of it.
"A lot of snot was coming from his nose which had to be cleaned, so it wasn't a nice journey or experience for anybody," concluded the witness.
The trial continues on Monday before Mr Justice Mícheál P O’Higgins and a jury of six men and six women.