A Westmeath man has been found guilty of murdering the mother of his two children almost two years ago.
Danny Keena from Empor in Ballynacargy admitted strangling Brigid Maguire, but denied murder claiming he was provoked and didn't mean to kill her.
Our Courts Correspondent Frank Greaney reports:
This trial heard harrowing evidence of domestic violence inflicted on Brigid Maguire by the accused Danny Keena – a man she’d been with for 25 years before she took their two children and left him in September 2015.
Their 14-year-old son described his father as a “bully” who used to pick on his mother for no reason and would often threaten to kill her.
BREAKING Man found guilty of murdering mother of his two children at her home in Co. Westmeath in Nov 2015
— Frank Greaney (@FrankGreaney) October 9, 2017
The trial also heard how he previously choked Brigid to the point of dizziness in an argument over a washing machine.
He admitted choking her again on November 14th 2015, but told Gardaí he just lost control when she accused him of being a bad father.
This time, she didn't survive.
KeenaÂ’s defence of provocation was rejected by eleven of the twelve jurors this afternoon and he was found guilty of murder.
HeÂ’ll be handed the mandatory life sentence on Friday.
