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The body of a 31-year-old Lurgan woman was found in a bath by a maintenance man who was investigating a leak in the block of flats she had been living in, an inquest has heard.
Laura Marshall's bruised body was discovered in an overflowing bath at her home in Victoria Street in April 2016.
According to a police officer, who was one of the first on the scene, he believed a violent assault had taken place.
Gary O'Dowd, 38, from Brookfield Avenue in Banbridge, was arrested and charged with her murder. He denied any involvement in her death. Two years later the case against him was dropped after the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) decided to withdraw all charges.
During the first day of the inquest, a statement from the maintenance man was read out to the court.
He told how another resident in the block of flats had complained that there was water pouring through his ceiling.
He said he had gone to the flat above where Laura Marshall had lived. He said the resident from the flat below had then gone with him to her flat.
The man told the court that the lock on the front door of her flat was loose and that he had been able to force it open.
He said he called out Marshall's name but that there was no answer.
The flat, he said, was in darkness and that he had entered using a torch.
He noted that the floor mat in the hall was sodden and that the door handle of the bathroom was on the floor in the hall. The spindle was not in the lock.
Unable to open the door, the maintenance man had gone downstairs to his van to get a screwdriver which enabled him to unlock the door which had a childproof button on it.
He said he opened the door a few inches and with the aid of his torch he saw Laura Marshall in the bath face down. She was naked and he noticed bruising on her shoulder. The taps were still running.
The sink had been smashed and lay in pieces on the floor and there was blood on the floor.
He said he reported it immediately to the police and that during the call he asked the police if he could turn off the running taps to which he was told he could.
