An Irish woman who hired a Las Vegas poker dealer to carry out a hit on her partner and his two sons is awaiting sentencing in Dublin today.

The 45 mother of two Sharon Collins from Ennis in County Clare used an e-mail with the codename “Lying Eyes” to arrange the contract killing in her dealings with Essam Eid.

Eid with a Las Vegas address is a 52 year old Egyptian Poker dealer and he too is being held in custody awaiting sentencing though the murders never took place.

Yesterday a jury of eight men and four women took almost eight hours to find Sharon Collins guilty of conspiring to kill P.J, Robert and Niall Howard between August 1 and September 26 2006.

The jury also found her co-accused Eid guilty of demanding €100,000 with menaces from Robert Howard on September 26, 2006.

During the 32-day trial, the court heard that Collins had hired Eid and paid him a €15,000 deposit to carry out a contract killing on PJ Howard and his two sons, so she could inherit his wealth after he refused to marry her.

Much of the evidence centered on emails sent by a person using the codename “lyingeyes98” to a contact address linked to a “Hitman for Hire” website set up by Eid.

Collins told the court she was not 'lyingeyes98' - the name of the email account used to hire the hit man.

In a statement issued last night, PJ Howard and his two sons said they were relieved that the trial had come to a conclusion. They expressed their appreciation to the jury for their patience and attention. “It is also appropriate to record our gratitude to the many people who have assisted us during this difficult period,” they said.

Mr Justice Murphy also ordered psychiatric assessments on Collins and medical reports on Eid before they return to court in the autumn.

Yesterdays ruling brought to an end one of the most unsavory criminal intent cases in Ireland in recent history.

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