Court sitting for murder accused

A man charged with the murder of a Cork grandmother is set to appear by video link at Cork District Court tomorrow, Friday. 62 year old Michael Leonard of Killmallock, Co. Limerick, appeared before Fermoy District Court last Sunday morning charged with Mary O’Keeffe’s murder. The body of Ms O’Keeffe, a 72 year old mother of three and grandmother, was found in a burning car in Doneraile last Thursday 4 February.

A post-mortem was carried out on her body by Assistant State Pathologist Margaret Bolster at CUH on Friday afternoon. The results of the post-mortem were not released.

The alarm was raised on Thursday afternoon when a passer-by spotted a car on fire near the forest in Doneraile. The Armed Response Unit went to the scene and later pulled a man in his 60s from the Awbeg River. He was taken to hospital with hypothermia and burns to his face. Ms O’Keeffe, from Dromahane near Mallow, was pronounced dead at the scene. She is survived by her three sons, Ger plus twins Christy and Donal.