Nor, if the prosecution claims are proven, was the alleged respondent, Sharon Collins from Co Clare, doing a good job of portraying herself as a rural Irish housewife when she allegedly designated her email account lyingeyes98@yahoo.com.

The person manning the phones in the enterprising offices of Hitman for Hire was allegedly called Tony Luciano, no doubt an attempt to give prospective customers an image of Joe Pesci from Casino. But when the real alleged brains of the hitman outfit turned up in the Central Criminal Court last week, Essam Eid turned out to be a 53-year-old Egyptian who could have passed for a poorly dressed college professor -- though he did have a Las Vegas address.

Mr Eid, who was arrested while staying in a Limerick hotel with a woman, Theresa Engels, described as his partner, denies a conspiracy to kill Clare businessman, PJ Howard -- with whom Sharon Collins had been living -- and his two sons, Robert and Niall. Ms Collins also denies being part of this alleged conspiracy and denies taking out a €57,000 contract for Mr Eid to kill her "husband" and his two sons, allegedly so that she could be the sole inheritor of the Howard wealth.

Mr Eid further denies demanding €63,000 from Robert Howard to cancel the contract, and he denies breaking into the Howard family business at Westgate Business Park in Clare and possession of a number of items stolen from that premises.

But the case for the prosecution, as outlined for the jury at the beginning of the trial, tells a different story.

Prosecuting counsel Tom O'Connell told the jury that Ms Collins had met Mr Howard, a wealthy property investor, in 1998. She worked in the Howard family business, Downes & Howard, and was good at computers having taught herself.

She and her two sons moved into Ballybeg House to spend the Christmas period with the Howard family and once Christmas was over they stayed.

Ms Collins was anxious to get married after Mr Howard's wife, from whom he had separated years before, died in 2003. She herself had been married previously, but the marriage had been annulled before ending in divorce.

In 2005 she organised a wedding in Rome, but Mr Howard pulled out. He didn't want to complicate his sons' inheritance. They went to Italy anyway and pledged themselves to each other in a Church ceremony although papers were signed before they left the country to underline the fact that no marriage had taken place.

When they came home, however, Sharon Collins couldn't wait to spread the good news about the "wedding". There was even a wedding reception organised in Spanish Point in November 2005. So keen on marriage was Sharon Collins that she spent a lot of time on the internet researching the subject.

She found that she could obtain a Mexican marriage certificate via the web and ordered one to be sent to her for €1,000. She gave a copy of this marriage certificate to her accountant and also used it to get a passport in the married name she craved -- Sharon Howard.

Meanwhile, it was months before the man who was allegedly her husband found out that he had taken part in a Mexican "marriage".

Marriage was not Sharon Collins's only specialist interest as she surfed the internet. She was also keen to find out all she could about inheritance rights. And, according to the prosecution, it was on the web too that she found the connection that led her to court last week -- a website offering the services of a paid assassin.

On August 2, 2006, Sharon Collins set up a Yahoo Mail account in the name of lyingeyes98@yahoo.ie. She sent an email from her own Eircom address to Lyingeyes the day it was created. Lyingeyes98 searched the net for contract killers and on August 8 sent an email to hitmanforhire@yahoo.com. Hitman was also visited by someone using the computer at Downes and Howard.

A correspondence developed between Lyingeyes and Hitmanforhire and, the prosecution claims, on August 15 a deal was struck. That correspondence will be revealed in court over the next week or more.

Anyone contacting Hitmanforhire was told they were dealing with the Mafia-sounding Tony Luciano. Actually the keyboard was being manned by Essam Eid, an Egyptian national who lived in Las Vegas and made a living as a poker dealer in one of the casinos. He lived with his wife, Lisa, in North Las Vegas, and he had a partner -- one Theresa Engels -- who seems to have shared the couple's home.

As Lyingeyes, Sharon Collins talked about being wary of discussing a proposed contract on her husband and his two sons. She said she had "no conscience" about ordering her husband's death because he was an "asshole" and made her life hell. However, she said she was sorry about the two sons but had no choice because of the inheritance situation.

Prosecution counsel Tom O'Connell SC told the jury that Lyingeyes informed Hitman the deaths must appear accidental or of natural causes. She suggested an accident for the two boys or poisoning their drinks in the local pub near their holiday home in Kilkee.

"I would be a suspect if anything looks suspicious as I will be the one who would inherit. Many think I am with him for his money anyway. He's a bit older than me," Lyingeyes told Hitman.

It is alleged that the two talked about killing the boys first. Then they could stage Mr Howard's suicide -- presumably as a result of grief over the loss of his sons -- in a fall from the top of the building where he had an apartment in Fuengirola.

The hitman was not fazed by the elaborate nature of what was being sought from him. He told his prospective client that he could certainly handle the job and in fact would assemble a team for that purpose. The price was $90,000 (€57,000) with a downpayment of $45,000 (€29,000) demanded upfront. Hitman was keen. In fact he was more than keen that the job -- and his payday -- should go ahead. He warned Lyingeyes that if she failed to pay up, she would in turn become the target of a hit herself. Lyingeyes was not bothered by the threat. Sharon Collins had no intention of pulling out. What concerned her more was the money -- $45,000 sounded a bit steep for a deposit on a $90,000 job. She managed to negotiate it down to $15,000 and arranged to send it to Theresa Engels at Mr Eid's address.

(Later, during the follow-up garda investigation, Sharon Collins would admit that she had sent the money together with a pair or goggles by FedEx to Ms Engles.)

The Hitman asked for photographs of the intended targets. Lyingeyes dispatched these off to him as well. She sent a number of family photographs, including one of herself and PJ at a Christmas party -- "I am the devil in the red dress" she added, helpfully. Now the job was on.

The prosecution say that on September 24, 2006 Essam Eid arrived in Ireland with Theresa Engels. They booked into Room 208 of the Two Mile Inn Hotel, on the Ennis Road in Limerick. So far the "team" the unlucky Mr Luciano had promised to put together consisted of just himself and his partner. But the poker dealer reckoned he had an ace up his sleeve. He remembered that Lyingeyes was not the only Irish contact with the Hitman site. An Irish soldier had also looked at the site and Mr Eid had filed this information away for further use. Now he made a late-night phone call to this man.

He introduced himself as Tony from Hitman for Hire and after a little conversation, asked him if he knew where a gun might be procured in Ireland. He also inquired if the soldier might be interested in doing the job himself.

Apparently nothing came of this avenue, and Eid fell back on his own resources.

The next day when work was finished at Downes and Power, Niall Howard, the youngest son, locked up Downes & Power.

When his older brother, Robert, came into work the next morning he noticed the bottom Chubb lock was not locked on the front door. He went upstairs and saw that the alarm was not switched on. Only six people had keys to the premises -- himself and his brother, a cleaner, an accountant, a handyman, and Sharon Collins.

A Toshiba laptop belonging to him had been taken along with the computer at reception. The burglar had also stolen some computer cables, a digital clock and a poster of old Irish money.

When the theft happened, PJ Howard was in Spain with Sharon Collins on holidays. When he told her about it she mentioned to him, for the first time, the mysterious Maria Marconi. This lady, she would later tell gardai, was teaching her to become a novelist and had come to visit her in June 2006.

Ms Collins is alleged to have also told gardai that Ms Marconi had access to the office computer and had seen where the Howards lived.

The prosecution say that Maria Marconi does not exist since Ms Collins could not provide any contact details for her or produce anyone who had met her when she visited Ireland.

The theft was reported to gardai and at 10.30pm Robert was at home in the house he and his brother shared with friends in Ballyboy, Doora, Ennis, when he received a call on his mobile phone. A man said to him: "I heard you lost a few computers."

When Robert Howard replied that he did, the man said he would be around in five minutes. Robert said it happened so quickly he did not get time to call gardai at that stage. When the caller showed up exactly five minutes later, it was Mr Eid and he introduced himself as "Tony."

The prosecution say he gave Robert the stolen laptop and told him about the murder plot. Subsequent garda tests would show that the laptop had been used to access the email accounts of Hitmanforhire, tonyluciano2001, essameid and tengal05.

Robert said that this "Tony" was about 5'-11" tall with sallow skin, and wearing a baseball cap. "At the time I thought he was Algerian," he said.

Robert told his brother, who was listening to the door-step conversation behind the front door, to call the gardai. He was convinced of the danger he and his father and brother were in when "Tony" showed him documents containing directions to their house and his father's house and a holiday home in Kilkee.

He also had photographs showing PJ and Sharon at a party and PJ on the deck of a boat, probably in Spain. "Tony" told him they were the subject of a contract, but that it could be cancelled if he would pay him $100,000.

But after about 20 minutes "Tony" became suspicious and took off. Robert tried to follow him, but lost him in traffic.

Later back at the house, "Tony" called Robert again and asked him if he had the money and was prepared to pay. "I said I had it, yes. He then said he would give me a ring tomorrow."

Gardai made some inquiries and soon tracked down Mr Eid and Ms Engles to their accommodation. There they found the clock, the poster and the cables which had been stolen from the Howards' offices.

This triggered an intensive investigation in Ireland and the US, which led to the charging of Mr Eid and Sharon Collins.

It is alleged that at one stage the FBI passed some information to gardai which led them to search Mr Eid's cell. In that search, traces of the deadly poison, Ricin, were discovered in a contact lens case.

The trial continues tomorrow and is expected to last for four weeks.