A man has appeared in court charged with murd£ring his ‘well-known’ parents and brother at their home in Ireland.
31-year-old Robert O’Connor of Drumgowna, Louth village, was brought before a special sitting of Drogheda District Court.
His solicitor told the court Mr O’Connor has been getting mental health support since he was 22.
O’Connor is charged with the murder of his mother, Louise, 56, his father, Mark, 54, and his brother Evan, 27, at their family home in Drumgowna on Monday morning.
A care worker who often visited the family made the shocking discovery just before 10am on Monday. Mark was found in a pool of blood at the gate, Evan was lying on the ground outside at the side of the property, and Louise was discovered inside the house.
Gardai later arrested Mr O’Connor about a kilometre away. A source said: ‘He was just walking along the road, he wasn’t running or trying to evade gardai.’
It is alleged that his hands were covered in blood, but his clothes looked clean, leading officers to believe he had changed after the k!llings.
According to the Irish Independent, it is understood that after leaving the scene he told a local: ‘I’m sorry for all the screaming and shouting. It’s over now.’
It is thought that Mark and Evan tried to get away in search of help but were fatally attacked before they could escape.
Garda Shane O’Malley of Drogheda Garda Station told the court that Mr O’Connor made no reply when the murder charges were put to him.
Judge Stephanie Coggans remanded him in custody to appear before her again via video-link next Monday, October 6.
Defence solicitor Paul James Moore told the court that Mr O’Connor had been assisted by mental health services since his early 20s and requested a psychiatric assessment. Mr Moore also applied for legal aid.
Judge Coggans ordered that a psychiatric assessment be carried out on Mr O’Connor and granted legal aid of one barrister and one solicitor.