Murder accused told father he loved him as he killed him

Updated / Tuesday, 10 Feb 2026 20:08

RTÉ Courts Reporter

An American man who killed his father at the five-star Ballyfin Demesne hotel during a psychotic episode told gardaí that he told his father he would always love him as he took his last breath.

Henry McGowan, 31, with an address at Clinton Street, Brooklyn, New York in the United States is charged with the murder of John McGowan, 66, at Ballyfin Demesne, Ballyfin, Portlaoise, Co Laois, on 12 November 2024.

He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

The jury was told that two consultant psychiatrists will give evidence that the accused was suffering from a psychiatric illness at the time of the killing and that the evidence is not disputed in the case.

Opening the case today, prosecuting counsel Will Fennelly told the jury that Henry McGowan had a history of mental illness and that his family became concerned that he was not taking his medication while on a trip to Europe in 2024.

He had been in Paris and had travelled on to the UK before travelling to Ireland on 11 November 2024.

Police in London had notified gardaí that he was travelling to Dublin and had concerns for his welfare but gardaí were unable to locate him at the airport.

CCTV later showed he had been moving around the airport for some time, had twice travelled to airport car parks by bus before returning to the airport.

He had at one point discarded all his belongings including his passport and phone.

He later told gardaí he ran to the city centre and to Heuston station and was walking around the empty station in the early hours of the morning.

He later presented at the Mater Hospital in Dublin and told staff he was unwell.

Later that day, he was joined by his father who had travelled to Ireland to help him.

After receiving a prescription for medication which was filled at a local pharmacy, the father and son took a taxi to Ballyfin Demesne in Co Laois.

Staff at the hotel said both father and son seemed perfectly normal on arrival and were shown around the premises.

During this time witnesses said Henry McGowan was engaged in the tour of the house and was asking questions.

He was later given a pair of swimming togs by staff so he could use the pool but was later seen by staff walking naked by the poolside.

Staff and his father went to the pool area and the accused and his father went to a changing cubicle.

The accused emerged from the changing area a few minutes later and was again naked and jumped into the pool.

A short time later, Henry McGowan was met by staff in the hotel and they offered to bring him back to his room when he replied with “an off colour remark” and said he and his father were staying in a cabin.

When asked about his father he said, “he is not my father”.

John McGowan was later found in the pool area in a pool of blood and covered with a robe.

Emergency services arrived quickly but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

A post-mortem showed he had died from asphyxia due to manual strangulation and compression of the mouth.

As emergency services attended the scene, Henry McGowan was found sitting in the library looking at the fire.

He was later arrested and admitted to hospital until he was deemed fit to be interviewed.

During his garda interviews, he said he had killed his father by strangling him.

He said: “I killed him, I strangled him, I told him I would always love him no matter what as he had his last breath.”

He also told gardaí that he had “counted to 49” as he choked his father but he was still breathing so he counted for another 20 seconds before he stopped.

He described in graphic detail how he killed his father and said it was “shocking how long it took”.

The jury was told Henry McGowan had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2022 at the age of 27 and had been hospitalised.

He also had a history of mental illness from earlier in his life.

Two consultant psychologists will tell the jury he was suffering from a psychotic episode when he killed his father and was unable to refrain from doing so.

Giving evidence, Detective Inspector Diarmaid Lawlor, of Portlaoise Garda Station, told Brendan Grehan SC, prosecuting, that John McGowan was a successful businessman who worked on the New York Stock Exchange.

He said his son, Henry McGowan, graduated from the University of Virginia and worked for a technology firm.

When the accused presented himself at the Mater Hospital on 12 November, Detective Insp Lawlor said he described himself as having interconnected thoughts two weeks prior to this.

He added that the accused told doctors he was talking to God and that God was telling him what to do. He said the defendant was on and off his antipsychotic medication.

The accused’s father told doctors in the hospital that his son had been hypo-manic for six months and that he had come to Ireland as he was concerned Henry was manic.

Mr Grehan called this a “mission of mercy” to look after his son, which the detective agreed with.

The witness said the accused had two prior admissions to psychiatric units in New York, where he was diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder.

He said the accused admitted to doctors in hospital that he had a historic diagnosis of cannabis use and a family history of bipolar affective disorder.

Det Insp Lawlor said doctors did not feel the accused met the threshold for admission into a psychiatric unit at the time.

When asked in interview what had happened, the accused told gardaí he killed “who he thought was not his father, hit his head against a wall and strangled him”.

CCTV footage was shown to the jury, in which John McGowan can be seen hugging his son upon his arrival at the Mater Hospital at 11.56am on 12 November.

In his interviews with gardaí following his arrest, the accused said he was in direct communication with God, who was telling him what to do, adding that his “impulse” took over in the bathroom of the pool area.

He said he felt like he had to claim his life back from his father.

The defendant told officers that his father had started yelling at him like a child because he was naked.

“He got super angry, the deal was to have dinner and take the medication after. I had a sense of tranquillity after in the pool.”

The accused added: “He said I had to take my medication, to me it felt like he was forcing me, I didn’t follow the plan.”

The accused said his father’s anger made him “super angry” and then he killed him. “I attacked him as I handed him the medication”.

The defendant said he washed his hands after the incident, closed the bathroom door and jumped back into the pool.

The defendant went on to say he had grabbed his father by the chest, shoved him really hard and the deceased had hit his head on the hinge of a door.

“I strangled him on the floor of the bathroom with my bare hands, he was on the floor and I was on top of him”.

Later in another interview, the accused told gardaí he was pulling his medication out of the pocket of his trousers when his father entered the changing room.

“I handed him the medication at which point I began to take him down.”

The accused said he had to “finish the job”, make sure his father was dead and that he felt he needed to die.

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of six men and six women and is expected to last three days.