Furniture maker ‘murdered woman who threatened to reveal their fling’
Married man hit victim with hammer, trial is told
A MARRIED man beat a mother of three to death with a hammer when she threatened to reveal their one-night stand, a trial heard yesterday.
Roy Webster, 40, has admitted he hit Anne Shortall nine times on the head before driving her back to his workshop and hiding her body there for four days, the prosecution said yesterday
But Mr Webster has pleaded not guilty to murder and instead guilty to the manslaughter of Ms Shortall, 47. The plea was not accepted by the State.
Opening the trial yesterday, Paul Greene SC said the prosecution’s case is that Mr Webster and Ms Shortall had a ‘sexual encounter’ after meeting at a pub on December 20, 2014.
He said that seemed to be the end of it until some time later Ms Shortall started trying to contact the accused by phone and through a mutual friend on Facebook. When she made contact she told him she was pregnant and wanted money for an abortion. Mr Webster, a furntiure maker from Ashbree, Ashford, Co. Wicklow, was married at the time and his second child had recently been born.
He asked Ms Shortall for proof that she was pregnant, and that he was responsible. Mr Greene said Ms Shortall was in debt and owed a couple of thousand euro to her landlord and a similar amount in electricity bills.
Mr Greene said that on April 3, 2015, Mr Webster and Ms Shortall met in Wicklow town and were seen sitting in his van. He said the jury will hear that there was a dispute about whether he would give her money and that she threatened to ‘reveal all’ about their earlier encounter.
He hit her on the head with a hammer and drove her back to his work premises with her hands secured by duct tape, Mr Greene
He admits tying her hands with tape
said. A pathologist’s report would show that she received nine blows to the head, he said.
Her body remained at Mr Webster’s workshop until April 7 when he told gardaí her whereabouts. When she went missing on April 3, efforts were made to find her and Mr Webster was interviewed by gardaí on April 6, having spent the weekend with her body at his work premises.
He did not reveal his part in her death but by the following day gardaí had become suspicious and spoke to him again. It was then that he revealed the location of her body, which was discovered behind wood panels in his workshop, the court heard.
Mr Webster’s barrister Brendan Grehan SC told the jury that his client accepts that he met Ms Shortall by arrangement and that he assaulted her and is responsible for her death.
He also admits tying her hands with tape and lying to the gardaí in his initial statement.
Mr Greene further explained to the jury that their role in the trial is to decide if Mr Webster is guilty of murder or manslaughter. He said the prosecution intends to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he is guilty of murder.
Witness Jamie Shortt took the stand yesterday at the Central Criminal Court and told Mr Greene he was out with the accused and some other men on December 20, 2014.
He said he remembered seeing Mr Webster speaking to a woman for much of the night. He said he saw Mr Webster a few days later and they spoke about that night. He said Mr Webster told him he had gone to a house party, slept on a couch and went home the next day. The trial continues.