Court hears of bizarre death of US f inancier in Dublin

A US investment banker drove a Land Rover jeep at high speed and crossed four lanes of traffic on a busy thoroughfare in Dublin city centre before fatally crashing into a concrete pillar in an incident that has puzzled his friends and gardaí.

Details of the bizarre death of Campbell Walker, 59, of Fitzwilliam Square, in a mid-morning collision on April 28, 2020, were revealed at Dublin District Coroner’s Court this week.

One eyewitness to the crash said it was ‘a miracle’ nobody else was killed after Mr Walker’s Land Rover came out of a side road before driving straight across Baggot Street and colliding with a construction site at James Street East. The court heard the vehicle was doing around 80kph in an area with a speed limit of 30kph.

Nobody else was injured, although Mr Walker had just moments earlier crashed into the back of a parked car on Lad Lane. However, gardaí believe there could have been other deaths had there not been less traffic than usual because of lockdown.

A motorbike courier, Joseph McGaughren, said he heard the roar of a vehicle coming out of Lad Lane and then saw a jeep, which had a lot of damage at the driver’s door. Mr McGaughren said a tyre on the driver’s side burst as it hit the footpath coming out of the underpass from Lad

‘It’s a miracle nobody [else] was killed’

Lane. ‘He came straight out and made no attempt to stop. It’s a miracle nobody [else] was killed,’ he added.

Mr Walker was pronounced dead at St Vincent’s Hospital at 11.55am.

His friend and legal next of kin, Brian Melia, told the inquest Mr Walker moved to Dublin around 1996 to join his parents who had retired to Ireland.

Mr Melia said Mr Walker was isolating at the time because he had contracted Covid-19. On the evening before his death, Mr Melia recalled his friend being tired but otherwise in good form.

The inquest heard gardaí discovered large sums of cash in Mr Walker’s vehicle. They also discovered five sealed bags of what they suspected were drugs in a search of his home.

Wieslaw Kpeoc, who worked as a handyman for Mr Walker, said he had spoken to him over an intercom that morning but had not seen him. He described him as ‘a happy guy’ and recalled hearing him singing.

A forensic investigator said the crash was due to the actions of the driver as there were no defects with his car. Mr Walker was not wearing a seat belt.

The coroner, Dr Clare Keane, returned an open verdict as she said the events leading up to Mr Walker’s death were ‘not entirely clear’.