Jury to continue deliberations in trial of Dublin firefighter accused of Boston rape

Sunday World

17-06-2025

The Dubliner pleaded not guilty and has been held at Nashua Street jail in Boston since his arrest last year
A jury will return later today to consider a verdict in the case of a Dublin firefighter accused of rape in a Boston hotel.
The trial came to a conclusion yesterday morning and the jury will return to consider their decision at Suffolk Superior Court, Boston later today.
Terence Crosbie (38) has been on trial after being accused of raping a woman at the Omni Parker House in Boston during a visit for St Patrick's Day weekend celebrations in 2024.
The alleged incident happened on the night of March 14th, the day he arrived in the United States. He was due to be in the Boston parade with members of the Dublin Fire Brigade on March 17th, 2024.
The Dubliner pleaded not guilty and has been held at Nashua Street jail in Boston since his arrest last year when he attempted to get on an earlier flight back to Ireland on March 15th.
The trial began earlier last week. Mr Crosbie's wife has supported him and is present at the trial.
Yesterday, closing statements were made with defense attorney Daniel C. Reilly telling jurors they should acquit Crosbie and argued there was not enough evidence to link Crosbie to the alleged rape.
'I'm going to ask you to end that nightmare and find him not guilty,' he said.
'The Commonwealth has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Crosbie committed the crime he is accused of.'
Meanwhile, Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Erin Murphy asked: 'If she was so drunk, or so mixed up, or if she was making up a story, then how did she have so much right?' Murphy asked jurors.
'It's a misnomer to say the DNA was inconclusive. What is conclusive is there were two distinct male profiles.
'There's no mystery man here, there's no phantom rapist who slipped off into the night. Terrence Crosbie is guilty.'
Last week, Crosbie took the stand on Friday to adamantly deny raping the woman in the hotel room he was sharing with fellow firefighter Liam O'Brien.
Terence Crosbie in court
'I've done nothing wrong,' Crosbie told the court, adding '100 per cent I didn't do this. I had no physical or verbal contact with her at all.'
Liam O'Brien met the woman in the Black Rose pub and could be seen spending time with her there on CCTV footage.
Crosbie at one stage can be seen sitting talking to a blonde woman, who is not his wife, on CCTV which was shown to the court. The footage also showed that the pair shared a kiss.
Terence Crosbie in court
News in 90 Seconds - June 17
Mr O'Brien later took the female back to the hotel room that he shared with Crosbie.
According to the Defence team, Mr Crosbie returned home before the female and his co-worker Liam O'Brien, who she had 'consensual sex,' with.
Mr Crosbie is believed to have left hotel room 610 at 11:55pm that night, according to hotel security video and sat outside on a chair. He swiped his key card back into the room at 1:55am. The door then opened from the inside at 2.15am when the woman left.
The woman alleged that she fell asleep in Crosbie's bed and awoke to Crosbie on top of her, raping her.
Detective Joseph McDonough, who investigated the case back in March 2024 also took to the stand last week.
Dublin firefighter Terence Crosbie
The court heard how Mr Crosbie was interviewed shortly after the incident by Boston Police Detective Joseph McDonough in a private bar of the hotel. The clip was played to the court
'The Dubliner we started in, Emmett's Bar, Beantown Pub. I think we were in a fourth bar. We were in the Black Rose as well, we walked down there last,' Crosbie can be heard explaining in the taped interview.
When asked if he ate and who did he go out with, he said: 'I had a burger and chips in The Dubliner. Me, Liam, Jack, Larry.He also explained that ten people came over in total because they were 'marching in the parade on Sunday.'
Dublin Fire Brigade had rented five rooms in total in the Omni Parker House, with two officers in each room.
Asked what he did at the Black Rose, Mr Crosbie replied: 'Drink.'Speaking about what happened after he returned to his room, Mr Crosbie said: 'I came back here, I went up to the room, yeah, I did leave the room. Liam came back, he picked up a girl at the bar. I just left.
'I came back later. I sat on the chair beside the elevators on my floor. I was there for a couple of hours. I just went straight to my bed. She got up out of bed, started looking around in the dark. I didn't speak to her.'
When asked if she was crying when she left, he said: 'I don't know, she didn't show that she was crying.'
Asked if he had any interaction with the girl, Mr Crosbie said: 'None, said hello, said goodbye.'
The detective asked if the girl had slept in his bed, he said: 'Not to the best of my knowledge.'
Detective McDonough can also be heard in the taped interview asking Mr Crosbie: 'Any point did you have sex with her?' The Dublin firefighter then replies, 'No.'
The police detective then asked if he would be 'surprised? If she said otherwise?' Crosbie answered '100 percent.'
During cross examination, Detective McDonough was asked to confirm that the woman 'didn't run, didn't ask for help or have any signs of stress,' on CCTV as she left the building after the alleged incident. The detective agreed that she did not.
Defence attorneys have told jurors Crosbie did not rape the woman and that his DNA was not found on her.
Dr Lyndsey Walsh, a resident in emergency medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital took to the stand and spoke about the female's arrival to the hospital on March 15, 2024 at 3.05am where she showed up with a 'small tear to the vagina without bleeding.'
Dr Walsh explained that the female was 'medically cleared,' meaning that there were no concerns for life threatening injuries.
The court heard there was no DNA evidence linking Crosbie to sexually assaulting the woman.
Dr Christopher Rosenbaum, who works in the Massachusetts General Hospital in the Emergency Department, explained that in Massachusetts, the legal Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) limit is 0.08pc and when the female presented to the emergency department she had a level of 0.135pc at 6am, which is 1.7 times over the legal limit.
The woman explained at the time of examination, she would have three drinks a week but had a history with binge drinking but said she was no longer drinking in that way.
Dr Rosenbaum highlighted that the female's level of alcohol would've been higher four hours before the samples were taken from her.
A 'reasonable assumption would be between 0.150pc to 0.250pc, twice, three times beyond legal limit,' he said.