Man jailed for murder of his wife after discovering affair on her phone

Eoin Reynolds

A dad-of-two who inadvertently recorded the moment he stabbed his wife to death told paramedics and gardaí at the scene that the deceased was having an affair and he "freaked out" after seeing "something on her phone about sex", a court has heard.

Stephen Mooney (53) was sentenced on Monday at the Central Criminal Court to the mandatory term of life imprisonment for the murder of his 43-year-old wife Anna Mooney (née Shuplikova).

At the hearing, Mooney took the stand to apologise to his wife's family and their two children.

Mooney pleaded guilty to his wife's murder earlier this year after gardaí hacked into his phone and discovered video footage of the build-up to the murder and an audio recording of the murder itself.

Outlining the evidence, Det Sgt Basil Grimes told prosecutor Desmond Dockery SC that Mooney called emergency services at 1.09am on June 15th 2023.

He reported that a person had been stabbed at his home on Kilbarrack Road, Kilbarrack, Dublin 5 and when asked who did it, he replied: "I did."

A Dublin Fire Brigade officer was first on the scene and found Mooney kneeling over his wife's lifeless body, speaking to emergency services on the phone.

She had a knife lodged in her chest.

The defendant told the paramedic: "I've killed her... She's my wife. This has been going on for years. I'm really sorry, she's been having an affair."

A garda who arrived a short time later took a note of Mooney saying: "She's having an affair, it got out of control, I tried to save her, everyone's lives are ruined."

He added: "It's awful, I'm sorry to put you through this. I saw something on her phone about sex and everything else and freaked out."

He later said: "There is no suspect. I am the guilty one. There's nothing worth this."

Det Gda Jeanette O'Neill carried out a technical exam of the home and found blood pooling on a couch and blood spatter on the wall immediately behind it.

Ms Mooney was lying on her back on the kitchen floor when paramedics arrived.

Pathologist Dr Sallyanne Collis said the stab wound to Ms Mooney's chest tracked to 13.3cm and pierced the heart, diaphragm and abdominal cavity.

The knife that had been lodged in her chest had a 16cm single-edged blade and a wooden handle.

There were further stab wounds to the lower left side of her back, the left upper arm and further incised wounds to her left hand and arm. She had "quite a considerable amount" of alcohol in her system.

The pathologist concluded that death was caused by multiple sharp force injuries.

Det Gda Grimes said that weeks before Mooney was due to go on trial this year, gardaí accessed his phone for the first time using updated software that allows phones to be hacked even when they are protected by a password or pincode.

Analysis of the phone uncovered a 90-minute video clip which included footage of the murder, he said.

He said Mooney can be seen leaving the room where the murder happens and returning with the murder weapon.

The moment when Ms Mooney died happened off-camera, he said, but the audio records "all events leading to her death".

Det Gda Grimes said the video then goes quiet before Mr Mooney can be seen returning to the kitchen, where he drinks three glasses of water and runs water over his hands while making the 999 call.

The detective said it appears that Mooney himself had set the phone to record in an elevated position with a view of the kitchen table. Detectives believe that Mooney set it up that way to record his wife entering her pin number into her own phone so that he could then take her phone and find out who she was contacting.

The recording was still running when Mooney attacked his wife.

The detective confirmed that Mooney has worked as an estate agent and has no previous convictions.

Under cross-examination, he agreed with defence counsel Michael Bowman SC that Ms Mooney moved to Ireland from Ukraine in 2004 and the pair married in 2005. They have two children together.

Det Gda Grimes agreed that the investigation had confirmed that Ms Mooney was having a relationship with a man in Germany.

Neither of the Mooney children were in court for today's hearing, but Ms Mooney's brother, Anton Shuplikova, listened to the proceedings from Ukraine using a video-link and an interpreter.

Following the detective's evidence, Mooney took the stand to apologise to his wife's family. "I am truly sorry for what happened that night," he said. "It is the burden I go to bed with every night and wake up with every day."

"I loved Anna. I want to say sorry to Anton and his extended family."

He finished by saying: "I wish to apologise to my kids for the terrible suffering I have caused everybody. I hope one day everybody will be able to forgive me."

Mr Justice Paul McDermott imposed the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. He said that while the family did not make a victim impact statement, from the evidence and the nature of the offence, he understands the "huge damage and trauma that has been caused".

He said he has no discretion in sentencing, and Mooney's future will be determined by a parole board.