THE trial of Michael Dermot McArdle in Spain could end on Monday, according to sources at the Criminal Court in Malaga.
The Dundalk man stands accused of throwing his wife, Kelly-Anne Corcoran, to her death from the balcony of a Marbella hotel in 2000.
Many members of both the McArdle and Corcoran families, as well as large numbers of Spanish and Irish journalists, are present at the trial, which continued yesterday with further testimony from expert witnesses.
Mr McArdle denies killing his wife, and claims she fell to her death accidentally after tripping over the low rail of a balcony.
As the week has gone on the focus of the trial has switched from testimony from members of both families regarding the defendant's character and his behaviour following Ms Corcoran's death to more technical evidence, including detailed video and computer re-enactments of the fatal fall which were shown in the packed courtroom yesterday.
The court heard witness accounts that Mr McArdle had acted violently towards his wife on many occasions, and that the couple, who had been married for five years, had a heated row on the night.
However, it also emerged in court that the postmortem carried out on Ms Corcoran revealed no evidence of a struggle.
Mr McArdle has said his wife "slipped from his grasp" as he tried to haul her back over the balcony rail. Pathologist José Luis Palomo told the court that the injuries identified on the deceased's body were consistent with a feet-first fall from the fourth-floor hotel room.
Judge Fernando Zubieta decided to allow the couple's 11-year-old son, who was a toddler at the time of his mother's death eight years ago, to testify.
Proceedings had to be interrupted for half an hour on Thursday when the boy collapsed within minutes of taking the stand. However, he was allowed to continue after receiving medical assistance.
No details of his evidence, for which the courtroom was cleared of the public and media, have been released. The prosecution and defence teams have already begun final submissions, after which the jury of five women and four men will be directed by the judge on the issues it must examine in deciding whether to convict or acquit Mr McArdle.
In a late development last night, state prosecutor Carlos Yañez revealed he was willing to downgrade the original charge against Mr McArdle to manslaughter caused by recklessness, which would carry a 4-year jail term and not the 14 years initially sought.