Court Hears How Teenager Posted Murder Aftermath Video Of Offaly Woman On Snapchat

Monday, 22 July 2024 at 17:33

Ms. Woodnutt's husband also delivered his victim impact statement today.

The sentence hearing of a teenage boy who murdered a woman in Tullamore, Offaly has heard how he posted a video of the aftermath on Snapchat.

The boy, who can't be named because he’s under 18, admitted murdering Lorna Woodnutt while she worked from home on the 29th of September last year.

In the seventeen-second video uploaded to Snapchat, the camera first focuses on a sledgehammer on a bloodied tile floor before moving to a smaller lump hammer.

Both hammers were blood-stained.

The camera then pans to the body of Lorna Woodnutt lying in a pool of blood with severe injuries to her head and face.

The court heard the boy also took a selfie with her dead body in the background.

An analysis of his phone revealed Google searches about hammer attacks, the garda’s ability to track phones and searches about the behaviour of psychopaths.

In a victim impact statement, Ms Woodnutt’s husband said he hoped the boy could see the pain he has caused, and that he repents, is sorry and remorseful.

The boy’s sentence will be finalised at a later date.