This is the first picture of a Dublin man who admitted to brutally murdering his brother with a claw hammer after he “just snapped.”
Gary Murtagh, 48, was jailed for life for beating his younger brother Paul to death with a claw hammer at their Phibsborough home in 2020. Murtagh was jailed on Monday after last week, when he suddenly changed his plea to guilty to the murder of Paul (42) at Auburn Street in Dublin on November 6 of that year.
Murtagh was caught after gardai recovered a body cam from the victim, who had been struck with the claw hammer 50 times. The footage revealed that Gary had struck his brother with the hammer in a fit of rage - with him later admitting to gardai that he “just snapped, thinking about everything over the years”.
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“I didn’t think he’d be dead. I’m sorry. That’s all I have to say,” he told Det Inspector Aidan Flanagan when interviewed. The court also heard that the cause of death was repeated blows to the body and that Paul Murtagh suffered 16 blows to the head alone.
State prosecutors told the court that this was a “tragic” case and that the attacker Gary Murtagh had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. The court heard that Murtagh and his brother, Paul, lived alone at the house and that they had communicated by notes to avoid each other.
When a full lockdown was announced due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Gary Murtagh was “lost” without being able to work or go to the gym and that the two brothers ended up at “close quarters” in the house, the court also heard. Detective Inspector Flanagan told the court that when gardaí attended the house there was blood spatter on the walls and ceiling and a pool of blood on the floor next to the body of Paul.
He said there was footage of the attack as Paul Murtagh wore a body camera that indicated Gary Murtagh to be the attacker. Det Insp Flanagan told how Gary Murtagh attended Store Street garda station voluntarily later that day at around 2pm and admitted the attack.
In interview, Gary Murtagh said that he was seen on the body camera footage and that he used the claw hammer to attack his brother. He told interviewers that he came out of his bedroom and started hitting his brother with the claw hammer.
The court heard that Gary Murtagh had one previous conviction from Belfast Crown Court for grievous bodily harm and a minor conviction in the Republic. The detective said that the brothers had a “very poor” relationship and that gardaí were called to the address the evening before the attack for a separate incident.
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Det Insp Flanagan read a victim impact statement to the court on behalf of siblings Jane, Cora and Shane who said their “lives changed forever” due to the “tragic” death of Paul. The siblings said that a “living nightmare” began the day they heard of the “devastating” news of the death of Paul.
The family said they would pray “day and night” to their deceased parents for strength. They said they spoke to Gary on the phone after he was remanded in custody and that he was “full of remorse” and that he apologised “profusely” to them for an act that “cannot be undone”.
His remorse and regret, they said, was a “life sentence in itself”. The siblings said they were “petrified” of losing Gary, who was a “caring, kind-hearted and hard working person” who never intended murder and who could not have been in a right frame of mind on the day.
Fiona Murphy SC, defending, said it was a “tragic” case and that Gary Murtagh had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Ms Murphy said that since 2016 the two brothers lived alone at the house, which used to be the family home, and that they communicated by notes to avoid each other.
She said that when full lockdown was announced due to Covid, Gary Murtagh was “lost” without being able to work or go to the gym and that the two brothers ended up at “close quarters” in the house. Ms Murphy said the relationship became more and more fraught and that Gary Muragh told gardaí: “I just snapped.”
Det Insp Flanagan agreed with Ms Murphy when she said the house had become dishevelled and that Paul hoarded a “huge amount” of camera footage of regular life. Ms Murphy said that Gary Murtagh had contacted a third party to alert gardaí to the body in the house and that his “heartbroken” family stood by him.
She said Gary Murtagh was “genuinely remorseful” and that it was a “horrible set of circumstances”.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott said that it was important to hear from the victims through their statement read out by Det Insp Flanagan. He said he had no choice but to impose the mandatory life sentence and backdated it to August 27, 2021, when Gary Murtagh was taken into custody.
When originally arraigned before the Central Criminal Court last week, Murtagh had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. The plea was not accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and Mr Justice McDermott swore in a jury to hear the trial.
However last Wednesday, Ms Murphy said Murtagh could be re-arraigned in the presence of the jury, where he then pleaded guilty to the charge of murdering his brother.
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