A CO WICKLOW man accused of murdering his widower father had blood on his face and hands when arrested, a murder trial heard yesterday.
Garda Martin Kavanagh told the Central Criminal Court jury he arrested Mr Thomas Heaney after he found his father, Peter Heaney, slumped in a chair in the sitting room of their Co Wicklow home. Mr Heaney's chest was covered in blood and he appeared to have stab wounds to his chest.
It was the second day of the trial of Mr Thomas Heaney (28), who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his father, Peter Heaney (59), a fitter, at their home at Marian Villas, Arklow, on October 9th, 1994.
The prosecution has claimed that Mr Heaney stabbed his father as he lay drunk and asleep in his sitting room because he resented his relationship with a married woman after his wife's death.
Yesterday, Garda Kavanagh said he was called to the Heaney house early on October 9th, 1994. He saw Mr Thomas Heaney standing in the hallway holding a telephone. There was blood on his face and hands.
Mr Heaney made no reply when Garda Kavanagh asked him if he was OK. He then saw Peter Heaney slumped in a chair in the sitting room. He was unconscious and breathing heavily. He saw a blood-stained knife on a coffee table.
The State pathologist, Dr John Harbison, said he carried out a post mortem on Peter Heaney. He found no defensive injuries and there were three minor wounds to his head caused by a blunt instrument. He also found nine stab wounds - seven to his chest and two to his abdomen. One of the wounds had passed through Peter Heaney's heart. This wound, together with another heart stab wound, were the fatal injuries.
Dr Harbison was shown a knife and he agreed the wounds could have been caused by it.
Dr Geraldine O'Donnell, a forensic scientist at Garda Headquarters, said she examined the accused's clothing and found heavy blood stains on his jeans, top and boots. None of the blood matched Peter Heaney's.
She also examined a bloodstained knife taken by gardai from a coffee table in the Heaney house. Blood on the blade matched Peter Heaney's but not the blood taken from the accused's clothes and boots.
The trial continues.