A father of seven was stabbed to death in a "totally random killing" after he parked without permission in a space belonging to the woman accused of his murder, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
The court also heard that following the stabbing the accused, Christina Anderson, told her husband: "I did it for us Mark, I did it for us, I did it for love, one of us is insane Mark." Mother-of-three Christina Anderson (41) of Brownsbarn Wood, Kingswood, Dublin 24, is charged with murdering Gareth Kelly (39), who died from stab wounds following an incident at the estate on the morning of February 25, 2020.
She has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Her trial is expected to last two weeks.
Patrick McGrath SC for the prosecution opened the trial this morning, telling the jury that there is no disputing that Ms Anderson killed Mr Kelly. The issue, he told them, will be her state of mind at the time.
He said Ms Anderson had raised the issue of insanity and therefore the jury will hear evidence from two psychiatrists who disagree about Ms Anderson's state of mind at the time of the stabbing and whether she was labouring under legal insanity.
The prosecution say that she is guilty of murder, which Mr McGrath said is the killing by one person of another "where the acts which caused the killing were carried out with the intention to kill or cause serious injury."
He said that the accused person is presumed to be sane and it is therefore up to the defence to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that she was legally insane at the time. Turning to the facts of the case, he said that Mr Kelly, who lived near to where Ms Anderson lived, had parked his car in a space that was reserved for people living or staying at the Anderson home.
