Man (88) died of cardiac arrest following violent hospital attack trial hears
An 88-year-old hospital patient died of a cardiac arrest in his hospital bed following a “sustained and violent attack” during which he also suffered fractures, lacerations and bruising, a murder trial has heard.
Dylan Magee (33) went on trial at a sitting of the Criminal Court in Cork on Tuesday morning.
He pleaded not guilty to murder, guilty to manslaughter of Matthew Healy by reason of diminished responsibility.
Mr Healy and Mr Magee were both patients in Room 2 of St Joseph’s Ward at Mercy University Hospital (MUH) in Cork on January 22nd, 2023. The men were not known to each other.
The jury heard that Mr Healy had been taken to MUH by ambulance on January 13th, 2023, after he fell out of bed. He had become a widower earlier that month following the death of his wife.
Det Garda Michelle Quinn gave the jury an outline of the case. She who said that Mr Magee had been referred to MUH on January 19th, 2023, as he was hallucinating.
She said that Mr Magee said that he had taken sixty (60) Xanax, which he had purchased online. A subsequent toxicology screening showed the presence of THC, benzodiazepines and morphine in his system.
She said that medics prescribed him a sedating drug, which was to be administered for the duration of the stay. He was also assigned a special care assistant.
Det Garda Michelle Quinn stated that Mr Magee was psychiatrically reviewed at various intervals during his hospital stay. On January 21st, 2023, Mr Magee was given a bed in the same ward as Mr Healy.
That evening, Mr Magee was “talking and laughing to himself.”
At 9pm a nurse contacted a medical intern and said that Mr Magee was going to the bedside of other patients.
The doctor arrived, and Mr Magee was given another injection later that evening.
Det Garda Quinn said that Mr Magee was “getting up and walking around all night” with one patient even requesting to be moved to a different room as a result of his behaviour. Mr Magee was given another sedative by injection in the early hours of the morning.
Dt Garda Quinn said that at 5.10am Mr Magee went to the bedside locker of another patient and asked: “Does he have a blade?”
Det Garda Quinn said that at 5.15am a nurse left the room to ring for a doctor. The care assistant had his back to Mr Magee as he was changing his gloves. He heard “footsteps and thumps.”
She said that the care assistant asked Mr Magee to stop, but he continued to punch Mr Healy a few more times. Det Garda Quinn said that during the attack, Mr Magee stated: “This man ate my son.”
The jury was told that a nurse who tried to drag Mr Magee away from Mr Healy sustained a broken finger. The alarm was raised, and other medical staff and security responded.
Meanwhile, Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster said that the cause of death in the case was cardiac arrest due to a brain and spinal cord injury complicated by aspiration of blood due to blunt force trauma.
Dr Bolster said that she had attended the crime scene following the incident.
She noted the presence of blood-stained pillows and a “large amount” of blood spattering on the floor.
She also logged the presence of blood spattering on the walls and a hospital locker, as well as blood on the bed and sheets.
Dr Bolster carried out a postmortem on Mr Healy at Cork University Hospital. She said that the pensioner suffered fractures to his jaw and nasal bone. He also had bruising and lacerations. Dr Bolster indicated that Mr Healy “would have died very quickly following the trauma.”
The jury also heard an outline of the case from Prosecution senior counsel Jane Hyland.
Ms Hyland said that in Garda interviews following the incident, Mr Magee expressed “bizarre beliefs”, including that the deceased man cannibalised children. He also spoke about fire and claimed he was being persecuted by men wearing balaclavas.
Mr Magee had started on an antidepressant the previous month. He had also suffered the bereavement of a family member the previous year.
She said that Mr Magee was “hearing voices and seeing things that were not there.” He was assigned a special care assistant as he was “vulnerable.”
Ms Hyland said that both the psychiatrist engaged by the Prosecution and the Defence agreed that by the time Dylan Magee attacked Matthew Healy, any substances he had taken before admission were eliminated from his system.
She said that both the defence and prosecution psychiatrists were in agreement in relation to many of the facts. She said that the defence psychiatrist was of the view that Mr Magee was suffering from delirium and was ‘disoriented and deluded’ and that “impaired his capacity to inform a criminal intent.”
“He (the defence psychiatrist) will say that he had a delusional (episode) and he felt that the victim had kidnapped and cannibalised the children of Dylan Magee. He didn’t know the nature of what he was doing, and he couldn’t refrain from what he was doing.
It is his view that his (Magee’s) mental capacity was substantially diminished.”
Ms Hyland said the Prosecution psychiatrist, whilst substantially in agreement with the defence psychiatrist, would say that Dylan Magee knew the nature of the act on some level was wrong but was unable to refrain from committing the act.
The case continues.
