A Kerry man accused of murder wrote to gardai from his prison cell and told them they had the "wrong man", a jury in the Central Criminal Court was told yesterday. Mr Michael O'Brien (27), single and unemployed, of Gallowsfield, Tralee, Co Kerry, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of James Healy (16) of Shanakill, Tralee, at Monavalley Industrial Estate, Tralee, on or about February 22nd, 1997.
In an eight-page letter, allegedly written by the defendant, the author alleges that the gardai have made a "false allegation" against Mr O'Brien.
The letter also says a confession in a previous statement, allegedly made by the defendant, was untrue.
The letter reads: "I told the police lies. I have nothing to fear, I killed nobody. I would have nothing to fear. I am the wrong man."
Describing the deceased as a "good operator" and "dependable", the letter, allegedly signed by the defendant, says he was "upset and stunned" when Mr Healy was identified as the dead man found in a local field.
The letter says those who murdered Mr Healy were the "scum of the earth" and that he was killed "all over a girl and a few pound".
Saying he would kill himself before he would do time for the murder of Mr Healy, the author says: "I am clean of this crime. I am clean innocent. I am not going to take the blame for a murder that I never done. This is incredible."
The author of the letter claims to have gone to the grave of the dead man to drink cider as a tribute to him.
The author claims to have put a bottle of cider "with the top off" on the grave and placed a lit cigarette beside it while he drank.
"He is in the grave and I'm in the jail. Incredible. Life will never again be the same," the letter says.
Mr O'Brien and the deceased were allegedly associates who drank cider together occasionally in Tralee town.
Mr Healy was missing for three days before his body was found on waste ground near a factory off Monavalley Road, Tralee.
State pathologist Prof John Harbison previously told the court that Mr Healy had 13 teeth knocked out, pieces of his jaw dislodged and had 20 head injuries. The cause of death, Prof Harbison believed, was suffocation, head injuries and shock.
The trial continues today before Mr Justice Kinlen and a jury.