Revenge (22 page)

Savannah's barrister
,
Mr
. Kiely
,
asked for free legal aid to cover medical reports for his clie
nt and this was granted. Judge Enright
advised that the matter of disagreement o
n the three charges was an issue
for the Director of Public Prosecutions. He remanded both accused in custody until their sente
ncing date. Mr. Enright
then asked for Mr. McNamara to be remanded to Mountjoy prison
rather than Limerick prison as
this would be easier to facilitate the preparation of psychological reports.

Finally, the drama was over and the nail
-
biting wait had come to an end. The trial, which at times seemed like it would run for several months, had come to a conclusion. The packed courtroom slowly emptied. The members of the publ
ic who had attended daily
had grown substantially in numb
er as the trial had progressed and
had enjoyed what they'd seen.

Mark looked absolutely shattered while Savannah chatted easily to the prison officers. They were led away to the prison vans which quickly transported them from the courthouse.

The court
r
oom
emptied once the
final
verdict was read out. The press hurried to the front of the building to await the statements which
would inevitably follow. The women
's statement was quick to arrive. It had been emailed to the waiting press wi
thin minutes of the jury's decis
ion. Penelope,
Rebecca and Shona showed a united front and asked for a privacy which was unlikely to follow. Short and succin
c
t
,
their statement
intended to draw a line under the whole sorry mess.

“
We are relieved that the trial is over
and we would like to express our
appreciation to the members of the jury for their patience and attention. We would like to thank everyone who has assisted
us during this difficult period
. We look forward to getting on with our lives and we request the privacy which is necessar
y to assist us in this respect.”

However, the reporters still hung around. Word quic
kly spread that Mark's barrister
planned to make a statement to the press. A few minutes later, after a large crowd had assembled, microphones
and flas
hguns at the ready, Mr. Loftus
took his place. The crowd surged forward to catch every word.

“
Mark McNamara has maintained his innocence throughout this trial. The jury has found him guilty. The judge has adjourned sentencing pending the preparation of psychological reports. Accordingly, it would be inappropriate to comment any furthe
r on the verdict at this stage.”

The outstretched arms of the reporters remained thr
ust forward as he continued to speak. “
The person most affected by this verdict, other than Mr.
and Mrs.
McNamara, has been
their son,
Christopher McNamara. He is a fine young man who has displayed loyalty, devotion and love
to his father. He has stood by
his side in
this trial and his life has
been shatte
red as a result of the outcome. I would ask that he be given time to allow him to adjust to his changed circumstances.”

“Will you appeal?”
a reported asked.

“
The sentences haven't been handed down yet so there will b
e time enough to appeal later,”
he reminded the assembled journalists.

And that was it. It was
over. Mark was led away in handcuffs, his face red with shock as the cold metal of the cuffs brought home the reality of his situation. He had lost the case and he would have to wait two months to discover his fate. He was to await his sentence in the men's wing of Mountjoy Prison, home to some of Ireland's most notorious criminals.

Chapter 18

Various theories surfaced
after the trial on what had actually swung the case towards the convictions on most of the charges. Those who were involved in the investigation put it down to two things; the sheer weight of the evidence and Mark McNamara presenting two very different personas in the witness box. He appeared bold and brazen on the first day and sad and withdrawn the next. Some people said he unwittingly gave the jury the opportunity to see what he was really like. His "chalk and cheese" demeanour had surprised the jury members.

The huge amount of evidence presented throughout the thirty day trial was of such a technical, complex nature that it was impossible to predict the eventual outcome. Conspiracy to murder cases are not common in the courts in Ireland and the Prosecution had to prove that a tacit agreement was in place between Mark and Savannah. The jury had an extraordinary amount of evidence to sift through and there was every possibility that some of the jurors would either feel sorry for Mark
o
r take the view that the details were so ludicrous that it was impossible to convict. However, the jury took its job seriously and considered the evidence in great detail before convicting Mark and Savannah.

Privately, the police were pleased with the outcome and had always firmly believed that Mark was "
devils-revenge
" and
that he had planned everything.

Cold, callous, calculating, deceitful, ar
rogant, manipulative; the list was
endless, but all were used to describe Mark McNamara over the course of the trial. However, in stark contrast, Mark had presented himself as being a doting father and a caring, compassionate husband who was innocently caught when he was set up by a blackmailer. He sat in the courtroom day after day, often smiling and whispering to his legal team and nodding in accordance with the various pieces of evidence which were presented in the case.

Anyone would have thought he was an angel; the handsome, charismatic businessman but his handsome face hid his ugly secrets. He confidently walked into court
on
every one of the thirty mornings
of the trial
, carrying his file of notes and bottle of water and in the early d
ays a supply of chewing gum which
would keep him going throughout the day. He was always impeccably dressed in dark suits, either plain or pin-strip
ed with white or blue
shirts
.
He tried to portray himself as a devoted father and loving husband but ultimately
a
fter many months of investigations the Prosecution presented him as an evil, conniving man whose dark ambition was to rid the world of his wife and her two business partners. Mark had tried to claim that Rebecca's black moods had made her unbearable to live with but the police investigators said that he had one motive only; he wanted all three dead so he could get his hands on the money.

The police had trawled through computers, painstakingly investigated telephone records and interviewed dozens of people in a complex investigation. Given the bizarre, unpredictable nature of
t
he case, police did
n
ot leave a stone unturned and investigated every single lead which emerged. The jury agreed that Mark was not the man he claimed to be and did not believe his story that he had been blackmailed, which was reflected in their guilty verdict.

Chapter 19

He made it sound like love at first sight. "I remember noticing Rebecca that first day on campus. I didn't know her but something about her stuck in my mind. I knew we were meant to be together. It was almost like a premonition. It felt like
I had been waiting for her
my
entire
life.
”

Mark quickly asked around about the stunning brunette and decided that she was going t
o change his life.
Her love promised access to the lifesty
l
e he craved, not to mention the security which had been missing from most of his life. He was determined to hook Rebecca for himself.

Mark was born on
November
21st 1967
and was the only child of the late S
tephen and Anne. He grew up
in County Mayo
and a
lthough he loved travelling overseas on holidays, he had a particular affect
ion for parts of his native county, especially
Keel Beach o
n A
chill Island where he
had indicated a desire t
o have his ashes scattered
.

H
e was described by locals as a confide
nt, self-assured teenager. His family was
respectable and well-
liked. His mother and aunt ran the local shop
when he was a child and
his father was a butcher who
sang in the local choir. The family kept themselves to t
hemselves.
Mark did not move within a large group of friends, although this may have been a natural reaction to his s
ituation at home; b
y the time he had
reached his teens his parents’
marriage had floundered and his father had moved out of the family home.

He was i
nterest
ed in music and reading and even at a young age he
had expensive t
aste in clothes, saving every penny to spend in the more exclusive department stores
. Keeping t
rim and looking well had
been a pr
iority throughout his life. He
was an attractive, ambitious man with a great fondness
for women
, a fondness which was to get him into trouble
throughout his marriage.

Mark moved to Dubl
in to get away from the arguments
at home and
pursue his studie
s at Dublin Institute of Technology
and that’s where he met Rebecca. She was
the answer to all his dreams. He painted his love for her
like a fairytale.
Mark spotted her
one afternoon in the canteen and was immediately struck by the tall, pretty girl with the slightly aloof air.
She
was from a p
rominent Dublin family who
never approved of her relationship with Mark.
She wa
s quite standoffish towards him
at first but it didn't take long until she succumbed to his charms
and they became an item.

They married a few months after they finished college and with help from Rebecca's parents they bought Cois Farraige which was loca
ted in the prestigious area of
Dublin's south side.
Mark proved
himself to be a gifted photographer with a keen eye for detail and he gradually became one of Dublin's most sought-after photographers. They built up the
business together and soon
M&R Photography was providing them with a luxurious
lifestyle which Mark
made the most of.

He certainly played the part of the besotted, devoted husband very well, but
appearances were deceiving. He was easily bored
and
became
f
ull of his own importance, seeking an
ego boost elsewhe
re.
Rebecca trusted her husband implicitly and never even suspected a hint of an indiscretion until that fateful day when she discovered his secret mobile phone.
S
he sought to punish him where she knew it would really hu
rt; his home and his business and
i
n a cunning move, she tricked
him
in
to sign
ing
over his share of the
assets to her.

Mark was k
een to make amends
aft
er his affairs had been discovered
bu
t the feeling wasn't mutual. Rebecca tried
to work things out with him for the sake of their children but he had betrayed her on too grand a scale for her t
o
tr
ust him again. He'd been
kind to her during her post-natal depression but the love was gone. T
he most she could offer him
was a cordial frie
ndship and even that was just
for the sake of their children. She wanted a divorce but she hadn't felt strong enough to
face it since the birth of
baby
Ethan.