A 21-year-old Dublin man has been sentenced to life in prison, having been found guilty at the Central Criminal Court of murdering the father of his girlfriend's child.
Evidence was given that the man was beaten and stabbed with part of his own child's cot and a knife.
Peter Murray of Donomore Crescent, Killinarden in Tallaght had pleaded not guilty to the murder on April 12th, 2002, of 23-year-old Peter Bisset, of Cushlawn Park, also in Tallaght.
Mr Bisset died in hospital in the early hours of that Friday, shortly after being beaten and stabbed outside his ex-girlfriend's home on Donomore Crescent, as his three-year-old daughter slept inside.
During the seven-day trial, the court heard that, when first approached by gardaí, the accused denied all knowledge of the incident. The jury was also given forensic evidence, showing that Mr Bisset's blood was found on the accused's clothing.
When he finally admitted to killing Mr Bisset, Murray said he did not care for how long he would be locked up because the victim deserved to die.
He told gardaí that he was armed with these weapons when he opened the door to Mr Bisset and agreed that the deceased did not have a weapon.
"When I came out of the house, they legged it. I ran after him and started beating him with the stick. I put the stick down and took out the knife and started stabbing him. I told him I was going to kill him for hitting my bird," recalled Murray. "After everything he did to my girlfriend, he deserved to die."
Retired State Pathologist Prof John Harbison told the court that his postmortem examination showed the victim bled to death as a result of a stab wound to the right lung and heart.The postmortem results revealed the use of another weapon, with bruising and bleeding to the brain and skull.
After the verdict was read out yesterday, the deceased's mother, Mary Bisset, told the court that her son's death had devastated her family.
Det Sgt Robert Barber told the court Murray had moved from foster home to hostel throughout his teens, having lost the support of his parents by the age of 10. Det Sgt Barber agreed that Murray had raised himself on the streets and had become a heroin addict.
Murray had been living with Mr Bisset's ex-girlfriend and child for about five months before the murder, during which time he became close to the toddler. He had been in custody since being arrested on the day of Mr Bisset's death.
Det Sgt Barber confirmed that the convict had been rehabilitated since his incarceration in Wheatfield Prison.
The jury of six men and six women took over four hours to reach its majority verdict of 11 to one. Mr Justice Paul Carney imposed the mandatory life sentence, backdated to April 12th, 2002 and discharged the jurors from jury service for the rest of their lives.