A man who was stabbed to death told his girlfriend he loved her just shortly before he was found dead, a murder trial heard yesterday.
Ms Lorraine Reale was giving evidence on the second day of the trial of Mr Brian Collins (40), O'Connell Avenue, Limerick, at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Limerick.
Mr Collins has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Séamus O'Toole (22), Hospital, Co Limerick, at Catherine Place, Limerick city, on September 24th 2002.
Ms Reale, who had been going out with Mr O'Toole at the time of his death, gave evidence yesterday of the last conversation she had with him.
Earlier, the court heard that Mr O'Toole, who had been living with Ms Reale in Hospital, Co Limerick, was staying in his brother's flat in Catherine Place, Limerick city, on the night he died.
Yesterday, a jury heard details of the last conversation Ms Reale had with her boyfriend, which took place less than an hour before he was pronounced dead.
Ms Reale said he called her at 11.36 p.m. while making his way to his brother's flat in Catherine Place. She said he told her that he loved her and that he'd call her when he got inside the flat as his voice was "echoing on the corridor and he didn't want to wake anyone up", the court heard. At an earlier sitting, the victim's brother recalled how he opened the front door of his flat to find his older brother bleeding heavily.
Yesterday, Dr Daragh Little, who was called to the scene on the night, told the court that Mr O'Toole was pronounced dead at 12.25 a.m. on September 25th 2002.
The Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, said post-mortem results revealed that the victim had suffered stab wounds to his throat and to his side.
On the first day of the trial, the girlfriend of the accused, Ms Ann O'Brien, said her boyfriend suspected that people involved in an attack on her car a few days before lived at a flat in Catherine Place. That night she drove him to Catherine Place because he "wanted to know who lived there", the court heard.
The trial continues before Mr Justice Carney today.