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Jury For Laois Murder Trial Told Evidence Points "One-Way"

Thursday, 12 February 2026 15:00

Henry McGowan from Brooklyn, New York is pleading not guilty to murdering his 66 year old Father.

The jury in the trial of a man accused of murdering his father at the 5-star Ballyfin Demesne in Co Laois has been told the psychiatric evidence all points “one-way.”

31-year-old Henry McGowan, from Brooklyn, New York, has pleaded not guilty to murdering 66-year-old, John McGowan, by reason of insanity.

Out of concern for his son’s mental health as he travelled around Europe, John McGowan flew to Dublin on the 12th of November 2024.

That evening, his son, Henry, strangled him to death in the 5-star country house hotel – Ballyfin Demesne.

He had become psychotic and delusional – falsely believing John McGowan was not his father, but an imposter he felt dutybound to kill.

In his closing speech, prosecuting barrister, Brendan Grehan SC, said the psychiatric evidence all points one-way.

Two independent experts were in agreement that Henry McGowan satisfied the criteria for a special verdict.

Defence barrister, Michael Bowman SC, said it was a tragedy that a father lost his life as a consequence of his paternal instinct.

But at the time, he said his client’s mind was polluted with an illness, and the appropriate verdict is not guilty by reason of insanity.

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