Husband accused of murdering wife in Cork made Google searches about a carving knife before her death, court told

The husband of the woman found dead with her throat cut at their home in Wilton made Google searches about a carving knife in the days before her death.

Evidence of analysis of his phone and computer devices was given today at the murder trial at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork where 43-year-old Regin Parithapara Rajan, denies the single charge of murdering 38-year-old Deepa Paruthiyezhuth Dinamani at their home at Cardinal Court, Wilton, Cork, on July 14 2023, contrary to common law.

The expert who gave evidence of phone analysis today also gave evidence of analysis of the deceased woman’s phone.

Phone analyst Susan Cronin testified that Deepa’s phone showed searches in the following terms:

“What happens when you clear chat on WhatsApp?” “How do you know if someone is tracking your WhatsApp?” Ms Cronin produced records of some of the data analysed on Regin Rajan’s phones.

On July 6 2023 there was a Google search, “What is a carving knife used for?” on July 12 2023, the words, “carving knife” were searched.

On July 10 2023, there was a Google search, “Jail in Ireland.” Later that date, there was a search, “prison conditions”, followed by, “prison facilities in Ireland.” 

There was a cookie on a website on the accused man’s phone, “How can I stop my wife from cheating on me at home?” 

It was explained to the jury that cookie is not a search but is a computer prompt generated on a user’s device.

On the day of Deepa’s death the last entry on a WhatsApp conversation with a person called Jay came from Deepa’s phone at 5.50 p.m. and the message was, “Yups.” 

Seán Gillane prosecution senior counsel suggested to the phone analyst that this word was never before used on Deepa’s phone. Ms Cronin agreed. Mr Gillane said the word, “Yups”, had appeared 115 times on Regin Rajan’s phone previously. Ms Cronin confirmed this, according to her phone analysis.

In another WhatsApp conversation, the message on Deepa’s phone was, “There was this divorce thing going on and all this drama at home so I cried a lot.” 

The reply from Jay was, “Oh dear, poor you.” 

Cross-examining, defence senior counsel Brian McInerney, suggested that Ms Cronin consulted with the garda investigation team and certain searches were suggested, including the word, knife. 

Ms Cronin agreed and said that was how the searches relating to carving knife were discovered. She agreed with Mr McInerney that she searched under the words, kill and murder, and that no searches were found under those words.

Detective Garda Rachel O’Mahony testified that a palm print on the handle of a knife at the scene matched that of the accused.

The trial continues before Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford and a jury of seven women and five men.