Man who killed parents and brother found guilty of manslaughter

**Man who killed parents and brother found guilty of manslaughter**

Evan O'Connor was found dead alongside his parents Mark and Louise O'Connor

A 32-year-old man who killed his parents and younger brother has been found not guilty of murder, but guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

The jury at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin accepted evidence from two psychiatrists that Robert O'Connor was experiencing a relapse of schizophrenia when he stabbed the three family members to death in September 2025.

Louise O'Connor, 56, her husband Mark O'Connor, 54, and their son Evan, 27, were discovered dead at their home in Drumgowna, County Louth.

Robert O'Connor's lawyers had urged jurors to consider a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity so he could receive the "proper mental health treatment".

Robert O'Connor, of Drumgowna, Louth Village, Dundalk, had pleaded not guilty to murder by reason of insanity, or guilty of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility, over the triple killing between 28 and 29 September, 2025.

The jury heard that the defendant admitted causing the deaths of the three victims, who had suffered a combined 139 stab wounds.

In his closing address, the defendant's lawyer, Michael Bowman SC, told the court that O'Connor had previously been misdiagnosed and, it appeared, on later occasions his illness had been attributed to drug use.

The special verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, the barrister told the trial jury, carried the hope and expectation that the defendant would be "properly treated in an appropriate environment for the first time in his life".

Although both expert psychiatric witnesses considered guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility to be the appropriate verdict, they disagreed on whether the defendant met the criteria for the special verdicts of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Fiona Toal, called by the defence, said O'Connor did not know what he was doing was wrong and could not stop himself from carrying out the act.

She concluded that O'Connor met the criteria for the special verdicts of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Psychiatrist Dr Ronan Mullaney, for the prosecution, told the trial that O'Connor met the criteria for guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility and did not meet the criteria for the special verdicts of not guilty by reason of insanity.

Dr Mullaney said the defendant had shown remorse and that his question to gardaí (Irish police) about "what kind of time" he might expect showed "a good understanding of his role".

O'Connor told gardaí he stabbed his brother Evan, who had autism, and later described in interviews how his mother had asked him to let his younger brother go while he held them at knifepoint in their sitting room.

A pathologist said most of Evan's wounds were inflicted by his eldest brother while he was still alive.

O'Connor, who had not been taking his schizophrenia medication and had been using cocaine in the months before the three killings, also told officers that he had argued with his parents over drugs, lost his temper and only intended to kill his father and brother, not his mother.

The jury of six men and six women deliberated for four hours and eight minutes over two days before returning unanimous verdicts on all three counts.

After the three verdicts were delivered, Mr Justice Mícheál P O'Higgins told the jury it had been "a difficult and really very sad case".

O'Connor was remanded in custody until 14 December, when his sentence hearing will take place.