THE TRIAL of a Galway man accused of murdering Swiss teenager Manuela Riedo has heard that calls made from his mobile phone bounced off a mast in the Lough Atalia area of the city on the night of her alleged murder.
The jury at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin also heard that the accused man told gardaí he did not go into Galway city on the night of the alleged murder.
The body of Ms Riedo (17) was found in an area of wasteland beside a pedestrian walkway known locally as The Line, close to Lough Atalia. She had arrived in Galway, where she was studying English with fellow Swiss students, three days earlier.
Gerald Barry (28), Rosán Glas, Rahoon, Galway, has pleaded not guilty to her murder at Lough Atalia, Renmore, on October 8th, 2007. He has pleaded guilty to stealing a camera and a mobile phone at the same place on the same date.
Fergus O’Toole, a senior engineer at Meteor Mobile Communications, told Dominic McGinn, prosecuting, that he assisted gardaí with their investigation, providing them with records of mobile phone traffic related to Mr Barry’s phone number on the night of the alleged murder.
The court heard that a text message sent from Mr Barry’s number was routed through a cell mast at Flannery’s Hotel in Renmore at 6.56p.m. The court has previously heard that The Line – adjacent to where Ms Riedo’s body was found – is a short cut between Renmore and Galway city.
A call from Mr Barry’s phone number was routed through the same cell mast at Flannery’s Hotel three minutes later. Another text message was sent from the phone at 7.08pm, this time routed through a cell mast at Harris House, north of Flannery’s Hotel.
Four minutes later another text message was sent and routed through the mast at Flannery’s Hotel. The court heard that the next two calls made from Mr Barry’s handset were routed through a mast at Lough Atalia.
One call bounced off the cell mast located south of Lough Atalia at 7.19pm. The next call bounced off the same mast at 8.16pm.
Det Garda Michael Moran told the court that Mr Barry gave him a statement eight days after the killing. Mr Barry initially declined to give Det Garda Moran an account of his movements on the night but then agreed to make a statement in writing.
The court heard that he told Det Garda Moran that he woke on October 8th at 3pm and that his brother-in-law Dennis Ward and his brother Kevin Barry called over between 3pm and 4pm.
They drove around in Mr Ward’s car and went to Salthill between 4pm and 7pm, then they went to Mr Ward’s house.
He said that he had a bite to eat and watched TV before Mr Ward drove him back to his house some time after 10pm. Mr Barry told Det Garda Moran that he was not in or around Galway city that day or night, that he did not leave the Salthill area.
“Neither did I walk along the railway line to Renmore,” he said. “It’s three weeks since I used it to get to my mother’s house.”
He said that it was a few weeks since he walked in or out of the city along The Line and that he had “no contact whatsoever with the girl who was murdered”. “I don’t even know the girl,” he said.
Kevin Barry told the court that he was at home during the afternoon of October 8th. He said Mr Ward picked him up and that they drove around for a while during the early evening.
Mr Ward told Mr McGinn that he was driving around with Kevin Barry that evening and that he received a call from Gerald Barry.
Mr Ward said he picked him up outside Supermac’s at the bottom of Shop Street in Galway city at about 8pm. Mr McGinn asked if Mr Barry appeared worried. Mr Ward said he was “normal”.
The jury was shown CCTV footage of Mainguard Street. Garda Seán Durcan told Isobel Kennedy SC, prosecuting, that the footage showed a man walking from Mainguard Street toward the junction of Cross Street and Bridge Street at 8.27pm on the night of the alleged murder. He said the man was wearing a red jacket, a black cap, a black T-shirt and was carrying a plastic bag.
Earlier, Kevin Barry told the court that his brother was wearing a red jacket and carrying a plastic bag when he met him outside Supermac’s on the night of the alleged murder.
Det Sgt Tom Molloy told Ms Kennedy that Mr Barry was arrested 10 days after the alleged murder and interviewed.
Det Sgt Molloy said Mr Barry was shown a still photograph taken from the CCTV footage of Mainguard Street. When Mr Barry was asked if it was him in the photo, he replied: “No, no, he’s taller than me. I’ve never owned a red jacket or a baseball cap.”
The trial continues.