A WEST Belfast man has been found guilty of the 2015 murder of Lagmore mother-of-three Jennifer Dornan.
Raymond Martin Gabriel O’Neill, 43, formerly of Amcomri Street in the city, was handed a life sentence after his conviction on Friday.
He was found guilty by a jury of murder and arson. He had denied the charges.
Jennifer's home after it had been set on fire
Following the guilty verdicts judge Mr Justice Scoffield, told O’Neill: “Mr O’Neill, you have been convicted by the jury of the offence of murder and by law there is only one sentence which is available to me in respect of that offence.
“Your sentence will be one of imprisonment for life.”
Ms Dornan (30) was discovered in her burnt-out home in the West of the city on August 2 2015. She had been stabbed three times in the chest. Hundreds of friends and neighbours attended a vigil in Lagmore in the days after the murder.
At that time O’Neill had fled to the Republic and was arrested in Bundoran, County Donegal five days later.
A vigil was held for Jennifer after her murder
During the trial CCTV was shown which showed a man climbing over Ms Dornan’s fence and walking to the back of the house, 20 minutes after she returned home from a night out. The same man was then seen climbing back over the fence about an hour later.
Jennifer’s family clapped and cheered in court when the verdicts were read out.
A statement from her sister Claire said: “Raymond O’Neill has ruined our lives and taken a mother away from her three children. He has shown no remorse for killing Jennifer. We miss her every day and will love her forever.”
