Lawyer questions need for Charlotte Murray inquest

A LAWYER representing the man found guilty of murdering Omagh woman Charlotte Murray has questioned the purpose of holding an inquest into the events surrounding her death.

Ms Murray, 34, disappeared in 2012 and her remains have never been found.

Around seven years later, in October 2019, a jury at Dungannon Crown Court unanimously found her former partner, John Patrick Miller, guilty of her murder.

She had been living with Miller in Moy at the time of her disappearance, around Halloween 2012.

Last summer, Miller’s appeal against his murder conviction was dismissed.

An inquest is now set to be held into the circumstances of Ms Murray’s death.

Speaking at a pre-inquest review at the Coroners Court, Belfast today (Monday), Miller’s legal representative asked what an inquest would achieve, due to the completion of both the criminal trial and subsequent appeal hearing.

He also indicated that his client still denied being involved in Ms Murray’s murder and believed she could still be alive.

Ex-chef Miller, who is in his 50s and formerly of Redford Park in Dungannon, has refused to reveal the whereabouts of her remains – prompting a campaign by the family of the Omagh woman for a new law, named in her honour, that would result in longer jail terms for convicted killers who refuse to disclose the location of their victims’ bodies.

Coroner Joe McCrisken observed that any evidence submitted by Miller’s lawyers would be vital due to the likelihood that he was one of the last people to see Ms Murray before she died and due to him being convicted of her murder.

The pre-inquest review was also told of a plan to submit key documents from Miller’s original Crown Court trial, including the full transcript of the proceedings, and the Court of Appeal judgment as written evidence at the inquest.

The next preliminary hearing has been set for Friday, June 21