The verdict was reached today.
A woman has been found not guilty by reason of insanity of the murders of her three children.
Deirdre Morley caused the deaths of her three children, Conor, Darragh, and Carla, in their Dublin home last year.
RTÉ News reports that Morley was experiencing a severe psychotic depressive illness at the time of the deaths, and that she believed the children had been “damaged” by her.
Prior to reaching a verdict, jurors were told they must be satisfied that Morley had been suffering from a mental illness at the time of the killings, and that she did not know the nature of what she was doing, or that it was wrong.
The judge said if jurors agreed that any one of those grounds was fulfilled, that would be enough for a not guilty by reason of insanity verdict.
Jurors heard that Morley had intended to take her own life and those of her children’s. She had informed psychiatrists she feared her mental illness would affect her children in 2018, but had concealed the severity of her illness from her husband and close family and friends.
Morley this week pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the murder of her children, nine-year-old Conor, seven-year-old Darragh, and three-year-old Carla.
The children’s father, Andrew McGinley, returned home from work in January 2020 to see his wife being treated by paramedics outside their home. He discovered the children’s bodies upon entering the home.
