Joe O'Reilly

[Dinny Breen]

It was actually the note in the coffin that persuaded the DPP to bring the case to court. He/She reckoned that the phone records were not enough to get a convinction and weren't going to bring the case forward.

Except that evidence wasn't admissable, would agree with Uladh in that I know he is guilty but the prosection wouldn't have convinced me, that and the fact the book of evidence was left with the juror's, he has good grounds for appeal...

[Kerry Mike]

Yea I forgot the note in the coffin, that was fairly stupid on his part as well. I didnt see the Late Late when he was on it but my parents were watching and both of them said at the time that he was guilty after watching it, something very arrogant about him and not what you would expect from someone whose wife had been brutally murdered a few days before.

He was a bitter and sick man and some of the stuff he wrote to his sister in emails about his wife was disgraceful.

I feel really sorry for the 2 sons and I am sure there will be another court battle to get custody of them, just hope that none of his family get the custody of them.

[clarshack]

you have to feel sorry for the children. what sort of life are they going to have now especially if a custody battle ensues? the case itself was a bit bizzare in that the dogs in the street even knew he did it but the evidence itself wasnt 100% particularly convincing.

[Hound]

Yea I forgot the note in the coffin, that was fairly stupid on his part as well. I didnt see the Late Late when he was on it but my parents were watching and both of them said at the time that he was guilty after watching it, something very arrogant about him and not what you would expect from someone whose wife had been brutally murdered a few days before.

He was a bitter and sick man and some of the stuff he wrote to his sister in emails about his wife was disgraceful.

I feel really sorry for the 2 sons and I am sure there will be another court battle to get custody of them, just hope that none of his family get the custody of them.

Have to reluctantly admit that the e-mails almost swayed me in his favour for a short while.

What would I do if my wife was a be-utch, who abused my children, and when social services get called in, they do nothing except for congratulating her for admitting she slaps them too often and shouts at them too often? I want a divorce, but I know she'll get custody of the kids, and leave me with just weekends if I'm lucky. If I try to gain custody, it'll create war, I'll almost certainly lose and she'll make sure I see as little as possible of the kids and she'll do her best to poison them against me. Thats a very tough situation to be in. And there's many fathers in that situation, and this country seems to discriminate against them.

Of course, just because Reilly told his sister this by e-mail doesnt mean its true. And without doubt, anyone who bludgeons anyone else to death the way he did, deserves to rot in jail.

I can't imagine how the children must feel. Anyone know who currently has custody of them? It doesnt seem to be her parents

[Uladh]

What exectly did he write on the note in the coffin?

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

What exectly did he write on the note in the coffin?

A long-winded apologia to her, I believe.

[Smokin Joe]

What exectly did he write on the note in the coffin?

The trial of Joe O'Reilly accused of the murder of his wife, Rachel, has heard evidence about a letter he placed in her coffin before she was buried.

Mr O'Reilly has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his wife at their home at Lambay View in Beldarragh, The Naul, Co Dublin in October of 2004.

The court heard that Joe O'Reilly put a five-page hand written letter into his wife's coffin on 8 October 2004, saying he loved her and missed her very much.

He said she was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

He also said, 'Rachel, forgive me, two words, one sentence, but I'll say them forever.'

Barrister Hugh McGinn for the State read the contents of the letter from Garda Evidence. The letter was found in the coffin along with other notes and cards when Rachel O'Reilly's remains were exhumed as part of the investigation into her death.

As the letter was being read, Mr O'Reilly sat and cried.

Teachers from the couples son's school recalled the day of Rachel's death. She had dropped off a form and insurance money at the school office that morning and Joe O'Reilly himself called to the school to collect his son that afternoon.

Almost 180 witnesses have been listed for the trial which is being heard before Mr Justice Barry White.

It resumes in the morning.

Jury of eleven

The trial which began with 12 jurors is now proceeding with 11, after one member of the jury was discharged this afternoon.

Mr Justice White decided to discharge the jury member after she confirmed that, shortly before she was sworn in as a jury member this morning, she had had a conversation with another prospective juror about the case.

The other prospective juror, a man who was not selected for the jury, had contacted the court over lunchtime to tell the Judge about the conversation.

Mr Justice White thanked the man publicly for coming forward. He told the woman his decision to discharge her from the jury was not a reflection on her as a juror, but he said justice must not only be done, but be seen to be done.

[Orior]

I'd like to see Joe O'Reilly and Jacqueline Crymble get it together. Couldn't we put them into a Big Brother type prison cell and watch the fireworks?

Jacqueline was recently found guilty of murdering her husband in Richhill Co Armagh http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6244548.stm

[The Bottom Brick]

He is lying quest is  why is he?

Gnevin, we've spoke about this before, I believe...

[AZOffaly]

Anyone know who currently has custody of them?

It's his Brother up in Louth or Derry or somewhere. Her family are hoping to win custody of them. My heart goes out to the two little divils. I just hug my own little lad every time I think of them. I can't fathom how someone would do this in cold, cold blood. By all means leave her if the marraige was over, but to kill her in such a brutal, calculated manner is shocking. Again, thinking of the kids, how will they be able to rationalise things as they grow up. It makes me heartsick.

As for the evidence that convicted him, I'd be surprised if the note in the coffin tipped the DPP. To be honest, when I heard that, I assumed he was apologising posthumously for being a jack the lad, and for cheating on her.

His behaviour on the Late Late that night, and more to the point the behaviour of his mother in law, made me immediately convinced that he was guilty, or at least she thought he was. Nothing he did since then changed my mind.

I do agree that the case seems to be very circumstantial, but there are too many circumstancial thread, even disregarding the note in the coffin, which all point the finger at him.

[Bud Wiser]

On Christmas Eve a few years ago a girl (Caroline Wade) went missing.  Her body was found in the canal behind Croke Park. She was not found until the 11th January. I attended her inquest in Store Street with and on behalf of her family. Caroline had a mobile phone and it was dropped beside the Canal. A (completely innocent) worker found it that frosty morning at 6.30am walking up the canal. The investigating Super from Fitzgibbon St put a trace on the phone and tracked it right to the building site in Swords where said finder was sitting having a mug of tae before work with his colleagues.  That is how accurate the "triangulation" method is.  That is how Caroline was found.

On a footnote. Croke park and MCD provided free tickets to auction for a benifit night for Carolines family and Ballyboden St Enda's gave the club free for same. €4,000 + was raised for the family.  Where would you get it?  Only in the GAA of course.

Joe O'Reilly not alone is deserving of what he gets, he didn't even deserve to be on this planet. I am told from reliable sources that he was on the ground clinging onto the trouser legs of officers yesterday pleading that he didn't desreve to be "put in here". Maybe he was right, maybe he deserved a lot less.

[we are blue... etc]

Wrong decision by the jury by all accounts and you can be sure it'll be appealed. Also if the papers don't cool their jets he will no doubt plead "I can't get a fair trial". Friend of mine had the misfortune to be picked for jury duty on a fairly high profile corruption trial a couple of years ago - in spite of the absence of any hard evidence, 10 out of 12 jurors were convinced that the defendant was "a corrupt bastard", would "rot in jail", etc. In the end the judge allowed a majority verdict (guilty, 10 to 2). I know I wouldn't fancy going before a jury of my peers where half or more of them already have their minds made up on you because of your social background, money, etc.

[we are blue... etc]

He has already been moved from The Joy to the Midlands, which is a bit strange.

That would always have been the plan. He's been put with the "sisters" where he has less chance of being murdered. Central Criminal Court convictees are always sent to the Joy for their first night.

[ExiledGael]

Have no doubt in his guilt myself.
Think the media went a bit over the top on this though, I mean a 16-page pull-out in the Daily Star yesterday ffs

[Gnevin]

He is lying quest is  why is he?

Gnevin, we've spoke about this before, I believe...

and i believe i told you to f**k off