This deadly Lady Macbeth was quite prepared to spill blood
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Thursday July 10 2008
I got it completely wrong. Despite a couple of dozen years in the Murder Squad I thought Sharon Collins would get off.
Don’t get me wrong – I had no doubt about her guilt. But I was convinced the myriad of twists and turns, plots, sub-plots and incredible allegations would confuse and baffle a jury.
One thing about being a detective is, you should never second-guess a jury.
What Sharon Collins was guilty of, however, was stupidity. She left more clues than an elephant in snow.
At the same time you have to remember she was a very scheming woman.
She was prepared to live the high life with PJ Howard when all was sweet. But when it all went wrong, like Lady Macbeth she was prepared to spill any amount of blood. She really is one of the deadliest women I have ever heard tell of – deadlier than any of those accused you see in court who have killed on impulse.
Here was a greedy, selfish woman prepared to wipe out an entire family for financial gain.
Once gardai started probing this case there was no end to the trail of e-mails and the evidence was compulsive.
In all my years on the Murder Squad I never had to investigate such a bizarre and truly heinous plot for mass murder. Sharon Collins really is some piece of stuff – more evil than the notorious Black Widow herself, Catherine Nevin.
Of course, the trial had all the ingredients of a super heated soap opera, from the sex claims to the motive of greed and seedy hitman Essam Eid.
At times during the trial there were moments of pure farce especially on the occasion when PJ Howard, the man she was accused of conspiring to murder, kissed her affectionately as he was leaving the witness box after giving evidence.
Villain
Her alleged co-conspirator Essam Eid, a Las Vegas card shark, was also an intriguing character with all the trademarks of a comic book villain.
What added an international flavour was the evidence of the FBI and Essam Eid's wife, a convicted fraudster.
Collins richly deserves whatever she has coming. Make no mistake that this woman, out of greed and revenge, was prepared to take the life of three innocent human beings.
- Gerry O’Carroll
