0:00:02 > 0:00:06This programme contains scenes which some viewers may find upsetting.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08On Christmas Day 2008,
0:00:08 > 0:00:1481-year-old grandmother Maire Rankin was beaten to death in her home.
0:00:14 > 0:00:17She had head injuries. She had broken ribs.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19Her lung was punctured.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22She had bruising all over her body.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25And... she had been sexually assaulted.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28She had been stripped naked and sexually assaulted.
0:00:30 > 0:00:3545-year-old pharmacist Karen Walsh was charged with her murder.
0:00:35 > 0:00:38I said to myself, "Sweet divine, was I the last person in there?"
0:00:38 > 0:00:44Maire's family have followed every step of a protracted legal process.
0:00:44 > 0:00:48We all vowed that there needed to be some member of the family there
0:00:48 > 0:00:52for every time there was any mention of Mummy in court.
0:00:52 > 0:00:58The person accused of the murder walks in and sits amongst you.
0:00:58 > 0:01:03And she came out and she put her face that close to mine.
0:01:04 > 0:01:08This is the inside story of the Rankin family,
0:01:08 > 0:01:11as they battle their way through the legal system.
0:01:13 > 0:01:18Mummy was an ordinary little old lady, who was quite remarkable as our mother.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21And quite unremarkable in a lot of other ways.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25And... it's to say she existed.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36# Happy birthday to you
0:01:36 > 0:01:40# Happy birthday to you
0:01:40 > 0:01:45# Happy birthday dear Maire
0:01:45 > 0:01:49# Happy birthday to you. #
0:01:49 > 0:01:54I just want to thank everybody for coming. It's lovely to see you all.
0:01:54 > 0:01:58To celebrate my birthday and indeed my life.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03"Today dear Lord, I am 80."
0:02:03 > 0:02:06"And there's much I haven't done."
0:02:06 > 0:02:11"I hope, dear Lord, you let me live until I am 81."
0:02:11 > 0:02:14"But if I haven't finished all I want to do,
0:02:14 > 0:02:18"would you let me stay a while until I am 82?"
0:02:21 > 0:02:25But Maire didn't get to stay until she was 82.
0:02:25 > 0:02:2918 months after this video was filmed, she was dead.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36In Newry, Maire and her sisters, Annie and Claire,
0:02:36 > 0:02:38were the three Corrs,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41inseparable all their lives.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45I want to just acknowledge Claire, Annie and Arthur,
0:02:45 > 0:02:51without whom I would not be able to live, quite honestly.
0:02:51 > 0:02:54They're such support, such kindness.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57And they have been with me since Gerry died.
0:02:57 > 0:03:02They're just marvellous. Thank you again.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05Maire was the eldest. I was next.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08Annie was the youngest. Just the three of us.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12I was the birthday present for her fourth birthday.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17Mummy left Maire's fourth birthday party to go, and I was born the following day.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Her day is the day after mine.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24I felt this is why we were so close.
0:03:24 > 0:03:29- Were you born in the hospital? - Yes. We'll not go into that!
0:03:31 > 0:03:36Maire and Gerry Rankin moved to the Dublin Road in Newry 40 years ago.
0:03:36 > 0:03:43They had eight children, from Diarmuid, the youngest, to Emily, the oldest.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47By the time this birthday portrait was taken, Gerry was gone
0:03:47 > 0:03:50and Maire was at the heart of the family.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57To her 11 grandchildren, she was the perfect granny.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05And the two youngest boys were particular favourites.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09There was always time to play.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22Around the time Maire celebrated her 80th birthday,
0:04:22 > 0:04:26a couple from Dublin bought the house next door.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30They only stayed occasionally. She'd met them three or four times.
0:04:30 > 0:04:35The first night Karen Walsh ever went into her, Maire rang me and said,
0:04:35 > 0:04:42"Annie, my next-door neighbour came in with a bottle of whiskey.
0:04:42 > 0:04:47"And she wanted me to have a drink, and I told her I didn't drink."
0:04:47 > 0:04:51She said, "She had a couple of wee miniatures with her,
0:04:51 > 0:04:53"and she said, 'Do you mind if I have one?'"
0:04:53 > 0:04:55And she said, "I explained I didn't drink."
0:04:55 > 0:05:02But she said, "She was awfully nosy. She wanted to know all about the neighbours."
0:05:02 > 0:05:06And she says, "I just wasn't keen on her."
0:05:06 > 0:05:11Maire would not have had experience of drink.
0:05:11 > 0:05:18I would say whenever she came into her on a Saturday evening, she had drink on her.
0:05:18 > 0:05:20Any time that she came in.
0:05:20 > 0:05:25She would have been drinking in Dublin before they came down here that evening.
0:05:25 > 0:05:32I would leave Maire down home on a Saturday evening.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36And she would go up, she said,
0:05:36 > 0:05:40She said, "Oh, their car's there." And she would say to me,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42when I would go to open the door,
0:05:42 > 0:05:46"Don't put on the light. I don't want her to know that I'm here."
0:05:46 > 0:05:47That she not know I'm at home.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53Her new neighbours had a little boy of their own.
0:05:53 > 0:05:58She bought a little selection box for the couple next door,
0:05:58 > 0:06:02because they had a little boy who was two at the time.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06I remember saying to her, "Mummy, why did you buy a present?
0:06:06 > 0:06:08"You hardly know the people next door."
0:06:08 > 0:06:11She said, "But they might come over Christmas
0:06:11 > 0:06:14"and I wouldn't have a child in the terrace come to this house
0:06:14 > 0:06:17"over Christmas and not have a present for them."
0:06:17 > 0:06:18That was just her nature.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30She would have gone to either Brenda's or Mairead's for Christmas.
0:06:30 > 0:06:32She hadn't been well for a few weeks before Christmas,
0:06:32 > 0:06:35and she hadn't been sleeping too well.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Maire had asthma, which had been made worse because of a chest infection.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42I rang her at least four times on Christmas Eve saying,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45"Please Mummy, come and stay here." You know?
0:06:45 > 0:06:49She says, "No, I'm coughing at night. I'll get one more night in my own bed."
0:06:49 > 0:06:51She was adamant that she was staying in Newry.
0:06:51 > 0:06:56Mummy had never ever been on her own on Christmas Eve.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00And that's the irony. She shouldn't have been on her own. She shouldn't have been there.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06I went out to midnight mass.
0:07:06 > 0:07:11I came in and they were getting the kettle on, the whole family inside.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14And I rang and says, "Well Maire, how are you?" She hadn't been well.
0:07:14 > 0:07:20She says, "Ah, I'm not so bad, but I am not going to bed. I'm going to stay on the recliner."
0:07:20 > 0:07:24"It's easier for me to get in and out of bed."
0:07:24 > 0:07:27And I said, "Look Maire, I have the house full."
0:07:27 > 0:07:28She says, "Away you go."
0:07:28 > 0:07:31I said "No, I'll talk to you in the morning."
0:07:31 > 0:07:35On Christmas Eve, she had several phone calls from her children.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39In the last, at 10:40, she said she was packed
0:07:39 > 0:07:42and ready to go to Brenda's for Christmas the next day.
0:07:42 > 0:07:50She was saying to Aine, "I can't wait. I can't wait to see the children tomorrow", and all the rest.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52Just in great form, bubbling.
0:07:52 > 0:07:56She said, "I am going upstairs now to watch midnight mass."
0:07:56 > 0:08:01She took her stairlift upstairs, got ready for bed,
0:08:01 > 0:08:04and settled down in front of the TV.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07At some point, close to midnight, the doorbell rang.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12Maire buzzed down to let her neighbour, Karen Walsh, in.
0:08:12 > 0:08:16It was late, but she had that present for her son.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29I suppose it was half eight or nine when we got up.
0:08:29 > 0:08:30Annie had phoned.
0:08:30 > 0:08:34She said to me... That was after 10, was it?
0:08:34 > 0:08:37No, I rang before that. I rang and said, "She must be in the shower."
0:08:40 > 0:08:43I rang back. There was still no answer.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47I said, "God bless us, I wonder if she is sleeping"...
0:08:47 > 0:08:50That's another funny thing - "Is she sleeping on her good ear?"
0:08:52 > 0:08:57Whatever possessed me, I said, "I'm going down to see..."
0:08:57 > 0:09:02I said, "Why... Do you think there's anything wrong?"
0:09:03 > 0:09:05And I went in.
0:09:05 > 0:09:09Opened the door and into the hallway.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11Next thing I shouted, "Maire? Maire?"
0:09:11 > 0:09:14Went into the bedroom.
0:09:14 > 0:09:15And the place was...
0:09:15 > 0:09:18I said, "This is like a battlefield."
0:09:18 > 0:09:22This to myself. I looked over across and I...
0:09:22 > 0:09:26I went over a bit then and looked up.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28Holy God.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32- There I saw poor Maire lying out. - She was laid out.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37I said, "Maire?" Thinking she'd collapsed.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40And she was lying out.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44I went over and I knelt down beside her, slapped her face.
0:09:54 > 0:10:00- "Hello, ambulance service." - "Ambulance service to 39 Dublin Road, Newry, please. Hurry."
0:10:00 > 0:10:03"I think she might be dead. She's unconscious."
0:10:03 > 0:10:05- "Who is it?"- "My mother."
0:10:05 > 0:10:09"OK. The ambulance is being organised as I'm speaking to you. Are you with her now?"
0:10:09 > 0:10:12"I'm going upstairs. My uncle has just arrived as well."
0:10:12 > 0:10:16- "Are you going to where your mother is?" - "Yes, I haven't seen her yet."
0:10:16 > 0:10:19- "My uncle found her." - "Right. How old is your mother?"
0:10:19 > 0:10:23"Oh my God, everything's lying everywhere!"
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Uncle Arthur was here, he knelt down beside her, he was hugging her, whatever.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31I didn't even touch her. I just threw the keys on the bed, and then knelt down there.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39Then I kept saying afterwards, "Why didn't I even touch her?"
0:10:41 > 0:10:45But Brenda, you did the right thing. You said the prayer with her.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48I know. Afterwards, Uncle Arthur was saying,
0:10:48 > 0:10:51"Flip me, at least you said a prayer for your mother."
0:10:51 > 0:10:54I said, "Yes, she'll be thrilled with me for doing that."
0:10:54 > 0:10:59I says, "But I didn't touch her, you hugged her." Even though I knew she was dead.
0:10:59 > 0:11:04Then I was sort of thinking, how long was she dead? Was she cold?
0:11:06 > 0:11:10- "Take a deep breath for me." - "OK."- "That's it."
0:11:10 > 0:11:13"Calm down a minute, OK?
0:11:13 > 0:11:16- You're going to have to try to be strong for your uncle. OK?"- "OK."
0:11:16 > 0:11:19"Can you tell me why you think she has passed away?"
0:11:19 > 0:11:22- "Is she cold and stiff?" - "She's cold, she's black and blue!"
0:11:22 > 0:11:25- "Send the police, please!" - "The police are being organised."
0:11:25 > 0:11:27"OK."
0:11:27 > 0:11:29"I'm sending someone to assist you."
0:11:29 > 0:11:32- "Is there anything else I can do for you?"- "I want to ring my brother."
0:11:32 > 0:11:36"We'll be with you as soon as we can, all right?"
0:11:36 > 0:11:40When Brenda phoned me that morning, all she said was,
0:11:40 > 0:11:45um... I think she said, "Mummy's gone."
0:11:45 > 0:11:49Or, "It's Mummy." Or something like that.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52And she was obviously crying.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57Um... And I just shouted down the phone, "I'm leaving. I'll be there in a minute."
0:12:02 > 0:12:06I was escorted very nicely, but I was taken by the shoulder,
0:12:06 > 0:12:08and guided down the stairs.
0:12:08 > 0:12:11At that stage I could see Diarmuid running up the steps.
0:12:11 > 0:12:15He was saying, "You've got to let me in, it's my mother." I just shouted to him,
0:12:15 > 0:12:19"Diarmuid, somebody has killed her." He screamed, "The bastards!"
0:12:19 > 0:12:22At the top of his voice, "The bastards! The bastards!"
0:12:24 > 0:12:29But when he screamed, it was haunting, absolutely haunting.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33Everybody heard. There were neighbours from three or four doors down
0:12:33 > 0:12:38who came onto the front steps. They hadn't seen the police at this stage.
0:12:38 > 0:12:40But they heard a commotion, heard noise.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44But the next-door neighbours weren't among them.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47Karen Walsh, a pharmacist from Galway,
0:12:47 > 0:12:50and her husband, Richard Durkin, a tax consultant,
0:12:50 > 0:12:55spent so little time in the Newry house, the sisters had never met them.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59I presumed there was no-one in that house because nobody came out.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01Every other neighbour came out to the front.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04If you look over there...
0:13:04 > 0:13:08- Yeah.- Look how close...
0:13:08 > 0:13:12- It's only the sense you get how close their bedroom window is.- Yeah.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16It is a stone's throw.
0:13:16 > 0:13:21And you know something, Brenda? When you said Diarmuid screamed...
0:13:21 > 0:13:25The whole terrace heard him. The neighbours from up and down came out.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28They were they were right... They couldn't have not heard Diarmuid
0:13:28 > 0:13:31if whoever is down there, heard him,
0:13:31 > 0:13:33because the bedroom,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36their sitting room and their bedroom window,
0:13:36 > 0:13:38are almost touchable from here.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42They couldn't have not heard Diarmuid.
0:13:53 > 0:13:59She had head injuries, broken ribs. Her lung was punctured.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03She had bruising all over her body. Her face was bruised
0:14:03 > 0:14:07and there was a mark, a circular mark, an indentation on her chin.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12Looking at her hands, her nails were very badly bruised.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17And I remember thinking, no. That's not right.
0:14:19 > 0:14:24She had been sexually assaulted. She had been stripped naked and sexually assaulted.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Moira had died from what the pathologist would call
0:14:28 > 0:14:35a multiplicity of forceful blows to the head, a sustained and frenzied beating.
0:14:35 > 0:14:40The crucifix from her bedroom wall lay beside her on the floor,
0:14:40 > 0:14:43her body covered with the throw from her bed.
0:14:43 > 0:14:48For all her life, the crucifix had hung above her bed.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51For Maire, it was a symbol of her faith.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55In her killer's hands, it was a weapon,
0:14:55 > 0:15:01pushed so hard into her face, the crown of thorns left their mark.
0:15:04 > 0:15:05Well, I think what happened was
0:15:05 > 0:15:08Mummy was sitting on that chair watching the television
0:15:08 > 0:15:13- and, if she came in the door here, and Mummy challenged her...- Yeah.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17..if Mummy saw that she had a bottle of vodka and was drunk,
0:15:17 > 0:15:21so there was obviously some sort of disagreement or argument.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24I think that the attack happened here,
0:15:24 > 0:15:28because there was a huge clump of hair just about there on the ground.
0:15:31 > 0:15:37My eyes were drawn to a huge clump of snow-white hair
0:15:37 > 0:15:43on the green carpet and I was... absolutely horrified, because, to me,
0:15:43 > 0:15:46that just screamed of a very violent death.
0:15:46 > 0:15:51Her hair was pulled so violently, it ripped her scalp from her skull.
0:15:53 > 0:15:58A layer of blood a centimetre thick congealed underneath her skin.
0:15:59 > 0:16:03Her head and face were purple with bruising.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07She'd 15 broken ribs and marks on her arms.
0:16:08 > 0:16:13She was just laid out at the bottom of the bed on her back
0:16:13 > 0:16:16with a dressing down rolled up under her neck.
0:16:16 > 0:16:20I saw her feet sticking out and then, when the...
0:16:20 > 0:16:23the bedspread was over, but it was over just about there,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27and I could see her shoulders that she'd no nightie on. That alarmed me.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32They took my mother's body out of the house
0:16:32 > 0:16:35and that was an awful experience.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39I think that's probably, um,
0:16:39 > 0:16:46one of the very lasting images that I will have of the whole thing.
0:16:46 > 0:16:51Um, it was still, er... Forensics still had a lot of work to do,
0:16:51 > 0:16:56so they wouldn't allow a coffin into the house, um...
0:16:56 > 0:16:59And they took her out in a body bag.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03They opened the coffin in the middle of the Dublin Road
0:17:03 > 0:17:05- and they put her in the coffin. - VOICE BREAKS
0:17:05 > 0:17:07HE SIGHS
0:17:20 > 0:17:22And that was just terrible.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33..to, er, who could help us.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36This is the next door neighbour, Karen Walsh,
0:17:36 > 0:17:3836 hours after she murdered Maire.
0:17:38 > 0:17:43At this stage, she's a witness, not a suspect.
0:17:43 > 0:17:50I think there's basically, right, OK, she was not well that night, OK,
0:17:50 > 0:17:55and, um, she shouldn't have been on her own in the house.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58In Karen Walsh's version of events, she is a good neighbour
0:17:58 > 0:18:01calling with a present late on Christmas Eve
0:18:01 > 0:18:04and finding Maire struggling to breathe.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07She was very, very wheezy, OK, exceptionally wheezy, OK?
0:18:07 > 0:18:11Um, like, when I went in initially, right, OK,
0:18:11 > 0:18:16she was catching her breath, OK, and had to keep on like slowing down, she was talking to me, OK?
0:18:16 > 0:18:22But then, we talked so long, that she had to get up to go over to the nebuliser, OK, to get, um,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26to get the Salbutamol from there, right, OK? Um...
0:18:26 > 0:18:28She admits to lying on Maire's bed
0:18:28 > 0:18:31- and drinking vodka from the bottle. - I regret that I didn't...
0:18:31 > 0:18:35She was too polite, she said, to go and look for a glass.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37When you heard what had happened...
0:18:37 > 0:18:39She claimed she went to look for Maire's inhaler.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43When she couldn't find it, she had a mince pie and left.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46Er, I don't know, I think...
0:18:46 > 0:18:49I just, I regret I didn't stay with her or did anything.
0:18:51 > 0:18:55The police officer asks how she felt when she heard what had happened to Maire.
0:18:55 > 0:19:00Absolute crap, cos I thought to myself, "Sweet divine! Was I the last person in there?"
0:19:00 > 0:19:04But the police suspected she did go to number 39 with a bottle of vodka,
0:19:04 > 0:19:08but only so she could drink in peace after a row with her husband.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11They believe that, when Maire asked her to leave,
0:19:11 > 0:19:13she battered her in a drunken rage.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Karen Walsh told police she went home to bed,
0:19:17 > 0:19:20still in her clothes and boots.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22"I went solid asleep," she said.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26She ends her interview by saying,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29"It's not exactly the ideal Christmas."
0:19:34 > 0:19:35Good evening.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37A neighbour of an 81-year-old woman,
0:19:37 > 0:19:42who was found dead in her Newry home on Christmas Day, has appeared in court charged with her murder.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45Forensic officers were, this afternoon,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47still searching the Newry home of Maire Rankin.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50Today, Karen Walsh, who's 42, and lives next door,
0:19:50 > 0:19:54at 37 Dublin Road, was in court charged with her murder.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08For the next 18 months, Maire's home was a crime scene
0:20:08 > 0:20:10and it would lie entombed,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12frozen in time,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15just as it was when her killer called.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24When there is a murder, the victim's family
0:20:24 > 0:20:28are drawn into a long, punishing process.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31There were bail hearings, committal hearings,
0:20:31 > 0:20:3436 hearings in all, before it got to trial.
0:20:34 > 0:20:39Not one in our family had ever sat in a courtroom and I remember saying to one of the court officials,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43"What happens when the judge comes in? Do you stand up?"
0:20:43 > 0:20:45And she said, "Yes!"
0:20:45 > 0:20:49I was going, "Well, we don't know, cos we've only seen it on telly."
0:20:49 > 0:20:53The family also had to face the fact that Karen Walsh was freed on bail
0:20:53 > 0:20:59and, for most of the time, lived in a flat in the middle of Belfast.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Once she got bail into Belfast,
0:21:02 > 0:21:03I would never have gone down
0:21:03 > 0:21:04into the city centre
0:21:04 > 0:21:05in case I'd have met her.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09In those early hearings, while on bail,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12she sat alongside the family in the public gallery.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14You go into the Magistrates' Court,
0:21:14 > 0:21:18you go into the High Court, whatever,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21and the person accused of the murder
0:21:21 > 0:21:23walks in and sits amongst you.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25Walks in and sits beside you.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29No segregation, nothing like that. This person in our midst.
0:21:32 > 0:21:37At one point, one of the barristers said,
0:21:37 > 0:21:40"Do these people need to be in court?"
0:21:40 > 0:21:44Us! We were the only people in the public gallery, a very small court,
0:21:44 > 0:21:48and, "They're upsetting my client."
0:21:48 > 0:21:50And we were sitting there,
0:21:50 > 0:21:55hearing for the first time Mummy's injuries, and we were heartbroken!
0:21:55 > 0:21:58It was...awful! VOICE BREAKS
0:22:04 > 0:22:07Looking at Karen Walsh
0:22:07 > 0:22:11and sort of half believing
0:22:11 > 0:22:15that yeah, it's possible that that woman could've actually done this.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19There was something in the look in her eyes.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24Karen Walsh seized an opportunity within the system
0:22:24 > 0:22:26to drag out the proceedings.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30Four times a trial date was set and four times postponed,
0:22:30 > 0:22:33because she kept sacking her lawyers.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Hi! Lovely to see you.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43SHE LAUGHS
0:22:43 > 0:22:45There's an alarm in this house...
0:22:45 > 0:22:49Two years and nine months after their mother was killed,
0:22:49 > 0:22:51the trial is on for the fifth time
0:22:51 > 0:22:55and the family are getting ready to go to the Crown Court in Belfast.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59- More bags!- Look at you!- I know. - LAUGHTER
0:22:59 > 0:23:02Four of them live in England and have all flown back.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06Houses have been rented, lives put on hold.
0:23:06 > 0:23:11- And seeing her is really going to put a strain on us. - Grab her by the throat.- No!
0:23:11 > 0:23:14- I think we'll get very angry. - We will.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18- I could get angry!- We can't be doing that!- Grab her by the pony tail!
0:23:18 > 0:23:20I know, I won't, I'm just saying that.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25- Can I just ask a really, like a really serious question?- Go on.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27What do you think Karen Walsh'll wear tomorrow?
0:23:27 > 0:23:31- She might surprise us and wear something different.- She might.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34- I don't think so. - She'll wear the same coat?
0:23:34 > 0:23:39- As part of the image. - The cream coat and the blonde hair. - That's the court uniform.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59Yeah, we're a bit nervous and a bit anxious
0:23:59 > 0:24:02and don't really know what to expect. But it's starting.
0:24:02 > 0:24:06Day one started with the prosecution.
0:24:10 > 0:24:15Police photographs were shown to the jury and witnesses.
0:24:15 > 0:24:19Images of Maire show extensive bruising on her head
0:24:19 > 0:24:22and the mark of the crown of thorns on her chin.
0:24:22 > 0:24:25As the jury were looking through the photographs,
0:24:25 > 0:24:27you could just see clearly
0:24:27 > 0:24:29Mummy's bruised face
0:24:29 > 0:24:30and, um, you know,
0:24:30 > 0:24:35the bruises all the way down and ring on her chin, it was just horrific!
0:24:35 > 0:24:39And I tried to look away, but when I looked back, it was still there
0:24:39 > 0:24:45and it was imprinted on my mind and I couldn't think about anything else.
0:24:45 > 0:24:48Barrister, Liam McCollum,
0:24:48 > 0:24:52began by outlining the evidence against Karen Walsh.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55There was no forced entry to number 39
0:24:55 > 0:24:57and she was the last to visit her.
0:24:57 > 0:25:02Her DNA was found on the crucifix and on Maire's body.
0:25:02 > 0:25:08That was the crucifix that was used to beat Mummy on the face,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11on the arms, on her head, so...
0:25:11 > 0:25:17if Karen Walsh's DNA is on the crucifix, and Mummy's DNA,
0:25:17 > 0:25:21that clearly connects the defendant to the murder weapon
0:25:21 > 0:25:24and the murder weapon to the victim and I think it's a very...
0:25:24 > 0:25:27It's like a Cluedo answer.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30You have the murderer, you have the weapon,
0:25:30 > 0:25:32you've the location, you've the victim.
0:25:32 > 0:25:36And a crucial piece of evidence was that,
0:25:36 > 0:25:41at 7:31 on Christmas morning, someone used Maire's home phone
0:25:41 > 0:25:46to ring Karen Walsh's husband, Richard Durkin, seven times.
0:25:50 > 0:25:53Four of the family have been called to give evidence.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56At last, this is a chance for them to have their say.
0:25:58 > 0:26:05Today was like putting down a marker and saying..."This is who we are,"
0:26:05 > 0:26:09because up to now, everything has been about Karen Walsh.
0:26:09 > 0:26:12The jury built up a picture of Mummy
0:26:12 > 0:26:14and we began to talk about Mummy
0:26:14 > 0:26:19and we began to get her back again and that was a wonderful feeling.
0:26:23 > 0:26:26When I got up there, I thought, "No, I can do this,
0:26:26 > 0:26:29I need to do this for Mummy, and I looked at the jury and the judge
0:26:29 > 0:26:33and they smiled at you and you felt that you had their attention
0:26:33 > 0:26:39and that it didn't matter what the... what the defence barrister said.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45A few of our party had said to me when I'd given evidence,
0:26:45 > 0:26:48they said, "Arthur, when you spoke about it,
0:26:48 > 0:26:55"there were two of three people in the jury who broke down."
0:26:55 > 0:27:00And they said they buried their head and they were quite upset, you know.
0:27:01 > 0:27:04And I looked across at the jury and that settled me.
0:27:04 > 0:27:10It's amazing, they are looking so intently at the witnesses,
0:27:10 > 0:27:14they looked so focused, they looked as if they cared,
0:27:14 > 0:27:18they wanted to hear what I had to say and it was...
0:27:19 > 0:27:22It was very emotional. SHE CRIES
0:27:22 > 0:27:24But it was...it was comforting too.
0:27:26 > 0:27:29Because I wanted to be listened to,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32I've waited too long to tell this story,
0:27:32 > 0:27:39and I needed them to listen to me and I needed to convey what happened
0:27:39 > 0:27:44and how awful it was, but I wanted to do it in a composed way.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50- TV: 'Today the trial began...' - You know, it could...
0:27:50 > 0:27:53'..the killing of Maire Rankin and her family heard distressing evidence
0:27:53 > 0:27:57'of how she may have in sexually assaulted after her death.'
0:27:57 > 0:28:01- Emily, did you see that?- Yeah, it was good reporting by the BBC.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04- The photographs were nice.- Yeah. - The photographs were better of her.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09- Yeah, they were. It was a range of photographs instead of that one.- That's it.
0:28:09 > 0:28:14It paints more of an automatic grandmother and ordinary mother.
0:28:23 > 0:28:29For the first five days of the trial the prosecution barrister makes the case against Karen Walsh,
0:28:29 > 0:28:34but the next few days will be more testing for the family.
0:28:34 > 0:28:39It's the turn of the defence team to cast doubt and test the evidence.
0:28:41 > 0:28:44It's frustrating and they're worried about how it's going.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47You're just sitting there and you're just thinking, well,
0:28:47 > 0:28:50"Is this all going to collapse? Is this all going to fall apart?"
0:28:50 > 0:28:54You know, "Have they not got what they need?" And it just...
0:28:54 > 0:28:58it didn't seem to be going right, did it?
0:28:58 > 0:29:01They're angry about a lengthy discussion
0:29:01 > 0:29:05over the box used by the forensic lab to store the crucifix.
0:29:05 > 0:29:11The crucifix was fixed inside the box and they asked silly questions like,
0:29:11 > 0:29:14"Why was the crucifix not in a bag?"
0:29:14 > 0:29:16Well, it was obvious, even I know that,
0:29:16 > 0:29:19if you have fingerprint evidence on an object
0:29:19 > 0:29:22and you put it into a bag, that'll smudge it.
0:29:22 > 0:29:27You know, it... It really seemed to be a bit of a hotchpotch yesterday.
0:29:29 > 0:29:34Karen Walsh took to the witness stand. She denied the murder.
0:29:35 > 0:29:39She also denied carrying out the sexual assault after the attack,
0:29:39 > 0:29:42to make it look as though it had been done by a man.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45That's been underplayed in the court, the sexual assault.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49Imagine that women stripping her.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53I find that harrowing, because, to me,
0:29:53 > 0:29:57that was a final defilement of Mummy's body.
0:29:57 > 0:29:59It's too dark to even understand,
0:29:59 > 0:30:02and I don't want to be inside Karen Walsh's head
0:30:02 > 0:30:05to understand what sort of person does that.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13For the family, the worst day came
0:30:13 > 0:30:17when Karen Walsh's defence team called two expert witnesses.
0:30:17 > 0:30:20One of them, Dr Declan Gilsenan,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23a retired state pathologist from the Republic,
0:30:23 > 0:30:27carried out a second post-mortem on behalf of the defence.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31He speculated that instead of being sexually assaulted,
0:30:31 > 0:30:35Maire may have climbed on to the bed to get the crucifix off the wall,
0:30:35 > 0:30:39fallen against the mirror and suffered a straddle injury.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43"Are you serious?" the prosecution asked.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49Around 30 times in her evidence,
0:30:49 > 0:30:53Karen Walsh repeated, "I couldn't have been any nicer to the woman."
0:30:54 > 0:30:58She was well-rehearsed, she decided what she wanted to say,
0:30:58 > 0:31:03she was not deviating from that, and that is one devious woman.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06I was appalled today. It physically made me sick at one point.
0:31:09 > 0:31:14Even more galling for the family was when Karen Walsh tried to portray herself
0:31:14 > 0:31:18as a friend concerned about Maire's daughter, who had cancer.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22When she started to talk abut me personally, I got very upset.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24And I just found that...
0:31:26 > 0:31:28..upsetting.
0:31:34 > 0:31:40I didn't like how she used the information about my illness
0:31:40 > 0:31:44to make her look like she was a really close friend of Mummy's,
0:31:44 > 0:31:47I find that very, very upsetting.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54And that surprised me, I didn't expect all that to come out today.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58It's not that I'm hiding it or don't want people to know,
0:31:58 > 0:32:01it's just...I didn't expect it,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04and when she came out with it in court today,
0:32:04 > 0:32:07I just found it very, very upsetting.
0:32:15 > 0:32:17The trial is coming to an end,
0:32:17 > 0:32:21and the family are composing a victim impact statement.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24I don't think we can put in all that emotional stuff.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28This is their opportunity to tell the court how their lives
0:32:28 > 0:32:31have been devastated by the murder.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35The defence will be given a copy of it, that's an interesting one.
0:32:35 > 0:32:37I have an issue with that,
0:32:37 > 0:32:41I do not want Karen Walsh getting a copy of my victim impact statement.
0:32:41 > 0:32:44- I don't care.- I don't want it. - I actually don't care.- I do care.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47He didn't say that, he said defence team.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49But I want to know that she does not get to read
0:32:49 > 0:32:51my victim impact statement.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55..Newry pensioner who was murdered at Christmas three years ago
0:32:55 > 0:32:57is expected to go out tomorrow to consider its verdict.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00I think it has gone very well,
0:33:00 > 0:33:03and it was such a relief to hear on the TV today...
0:33:05 > 0:33:09"The Karen Walsh trial is ended."
0:33:09 > 0:33:11Talk about a sense of relief.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26For Karen Walsh, her days in court are coming to an end.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33I have absolute faith in the jury
0:33:33 > 0:33:37and in the common sense of 12 ordinary, decent people.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45It took them less than two hours to reach a verdict.
0:33:45 > 0:33:49When the jury came in, I could not look over at the jury.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52I just focused on the back of her head, on her ponytail.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54I'd spent two weeks looking at the ponytail.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59I was shaking.
0:34:00 > 0:34:01When they stood up
0:34:01 > 0:34:04and they asked the foreman if they'd reached a verdict,
0:34:04 > 0:34:06when he said,
0:34:06 > 0:34:09"Guilty of murder,"
0:34:09 > 0:34:11he said it with real authority,
0:34:11 > 0:34:13and my heart nearly stopped
0:34:13 > 0:34:16and I thought, "Is this real? Is this real?"
0:34:16 > 0:34:18It was just such a powerful thing.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26When the judge said, "Take her down,"
0:34:26 > 0:34:31I just thought, "She's out of our lives now."
0:34:38 > 0:34:40Karen Walsh was today convicted
0:34:40 > 0:34:43of the brutal murder of Maire Rankin, our mother.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49Mummy was a kind and caring person,
0:34:49 > 0:34:54who spent her life helping people. She would never have hurt anybody.
0:34:54 > 0:34:58She had a right to feel secure in her own home.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06However she wants to protest her innocence beyond that,
0:35:06 > 0:35:08she can do it. I don't want to listen.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10I don't want to listen any more,
0:35:10 > 0:35:13certainly not to Karen Walsh.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16When Andrew was sobbing beside me as well, I was sobbing.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18I was sobbing and Andrew was sobbing.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20I think justice has been done.
0:35:20 > 0:35:25And you can gauge that from the amount of time the jury was out,
0:35:25 > 0:35:27one hour and 52 minutes.
0:35:27 > 0:35:31So there's absolutely no doubt about it.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Any of the detectives I spoke to all along, they said,
0:35:34 > 0:35:39"We had no doubt all along, we knew we'd get the verdict you wanted."
0:35:39 > 0:35:41And we got it, thanks be to God.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15For the past two days, I have actually begun
0:36:15 > 0:36:19to think about Mummy again, I've tried to think about Mummy.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23So I am sure that in time we'll be able to get Mummy
0:36:23 > 0:36:26back into our lives.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30It saves classes in the gym. It's just as good a workout.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38I know Mummy would be saying, "Look, I'm safe. I'm safe.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41"Stop panicking about me. It's over.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45"It was awful, it was brutal, it was not the way I wanted to die,
0:36:45 > 0:36:47"but it's over."
0:36:52 > 0:36:54Our lives are changed for good.
0:36:54 > 0:37:00Which they are. They're completely changed since Maire died.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02It's not the same at all.
0:37:10 > 0:37:16I want to get past this process and not think of the horror,
0:37:16 > 0:37:18cos there comes a time when someone dies
0:37:18 > 0:37:20that you go through a process
0:37:20 > 0:37:23and then you start to think of the good things
0:37:23 > 0:37:25and you sift out the bad things.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34So I'd like to be in that position.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36I'd like to be past it all.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40She just sat and read her book
0:37:40 > 0:37:43and was quite contented to sit on the beach
0:37:43 > 0:37:46for hours while we played around, the children.
0:37:50 > 0:37:55We need to move on from this and pick up our lives
0:37:55 > 0:38:01and restore Mummy's memory to what Mummy actually, truly was.
0:38:02 > 0:38:09Full of fun and very vibrant, very lively. Just a nice person.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:38:51 > 0:38:54E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk