A man accused of killing his brother and dumping the body in a well told gardai he was in bed sick on the afternoon his brother went missing from their farm in Dooneen, Kilcummin, Killarney, Co Kerry.
In the Central Criminal Court in Dublin Mr Sean Daly (74) has pleaded not guilty to the murder on January 18th, 1996, of his brother, Patrick (69), whose body was found at the base of a well on his farm on January 23rd, 1996.
The prosecution claim that post-mortem inquiry results showed that his injuries could have been caused by a blunt weapon or a shod foot.
Sgt Margaret Nugent of Killarney Garda Station told Mr Gregory Murphy SC, prosecuting, that on January 29th Mr Sean Daly told her he lived with his wife on the farm owned by his brother Paddy, and that they were in partnership together "for tax purposes".
Paddy was pleased with the work done by himself and his sons, Mr Daly said. Relations were all right between them: "I'd never lay a hand on that man, even if he was giving out to me".
"I tried to do my best by the man". he said.
Mr Daly said he last saw Paddy at 9 a.m. on Thursday, January 18th, at the back door of his house. At about 10:30 a.m., Sean went with his sons and a daughter to Killarney and he returned home at 1:30 p.m. but was "not feeling well" so he went to bed.
He said he got up at 5:30 p.m. and saw a fire smouldering outside Paddy's house, and his son Eugene burning some old papers there. At about 6 p.m., he saw "a figure of a fellow" inside Paddy's window. He "took this to be Paddy" but could not be sure.
At about 9 p.m., he went to Paddy's house with his three sons. Eugene shone a torch into Paddy's bedroom but couldn't see anything. The next day he and his sons searched for Paddy. After looking along the river, he was "very worried". That night he called to his neighbour, Mr Tom Kelleher.
On Saturday, January 20th, after finding that Paddy's bed had not been slept in, Mr Sean Daly said he returned home and asked his wife if he should ring the guards. "She said, of course, delaying too long and they'd be looking into it", he told Sgt Nugent.
His statement recalled that when gardai searched the farm, he told them he didn't see Paddy filling in the well, and didn't know when he did it but he was "surprised" to find that he had. On Tuesday, before gardai searched the well, he told them he had already looked there and "wrote it off".
Earlier, Sgt Nugent told Mr John Edwards SC, prosecuting, that Mr Eugene Daly told her he had last seen Paddy at about 6 p.m. on Thursday, January 18th. He said Paddy "came in depressed", and went into his bedroom. At about 3 p.m. the following day, he found Paddy's bedroom empty, with the bed unslept in.
Sgt Nugent said she found a building society account book in the name of Mr Patrick Daly in a box of documents. It showed a £2,000 cash withdrawal on January 12th, 1996. She also found a letter from St Finan's Psychiatric Hospital asking Mr Paddy Daly to attend to have his medication reviewed. an Daly later told her he believed this letter arose from a phone call he made to the hospital concerning his brother's condition.
Sean Daly also told her he believed Paddy had sold his milk quota recently. He didn't know whom he had sold it to, but believed it was to the value of about around £1,100.
Earlier, Mr Kelleher, who described himself as Mr Paddy Daly's "closest friend", told the court an Daly on Saturday, January 20th, about Paddy's disappearance, Mr Sean Daly asked him to search the river banks with his son, Jim, on Saturday, January 20th. When they returned to Sean, "I asked what about the well", Mr Kelleher said. "He told me the well had been shut for two weeks", and that Paddy filled the well two weeks previously with stones.
Mr Kelleher agreed with Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, defending, that Mr Paddy Daly was a depressive "at times", had fanciful notions, and would say things only remotely connected with reality.
Mr Kelleher told Mr MacEntee he forgot whether it was the Saturday or the Sunday that he spoke to Mr Sean Daly about the well.He also agreed when questioned about statements that it was hard to remember who said what and when.
Garda George Paine of Killarney Garda Station said Mr Kelleher reported Mr Paddy Daly's disappearance at about 1 p.m. on January 20th. At about 1:30 p.m., Mr Sean Daly rang and also reported his brother was missing. Garda Paine said Mr Kelleher told him when Paddy called to his house the previous Wednesday, he was "distressed" and "wanted him to keep his dog for him". The jury has heard that Mr Sean Daly asked Mr Kelleher to get the dog's original owner to take it away on the Friday evening.
Mr Christopher O'Leary, the nearest neighbour to the deceased, said he last saw Paddy on Thursday morning. The following night, his wife alerted him to noise in the kitchen. When he went out he found Mr Eugene Daly with a torch in his hand. Eugene said Paddy had gone missing.
Mr O'Leary told Mr MacEntee Eugene had never been in his house before and he didn't know why he was there. "It was strange to me, too", he said.
He also saw Eugene on Saturday night in Paddy's kitchen and heard two voices. Asked if he could have assumed Eugene was having a conversation just because he saw his lips moving, he agreed. The conclusion he drew was that there was someone else there.
The prosecution case continues before a jury and Mr Justice Barr today.