The man who admitted shooting rugby player Shane Geoghegan gave gardaí a rosary beads to give to Mr Geoghegan’s mother, his trial has heard.
Former bricklayer Barry Doyle (25) took the white, plastic beads from around his neck shortly after making the admission in Bruff Garda Station in Limerick.
The father-of-three with addresses at Portland Row, Dublin; and Hyde Road, Limerick, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Geoghegan on November 9th, 2008.
The 28-year-old was shot dead in a suspected case of mistaken identity across the road from his home in Clonmore, Kilteragh, Dooradoyle.
Detective Sergeant Mark Philips of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation was giving evidence today of an interview he conducted with Mr Doyle on the morning of Friday, February 27th, 2008. It was his second day in the witness box at the Central Criminal Court trial.
“The previous night when we had completed our interview with Barry Doyle, he took a set of white, plastic rosary beads from around his neck, threw them on the interview table and asked us would we give them to Shane Geoghegan’s mother,” he explained of a reference in the interview notes.
The detective identified the rosary beads in court before continuing his evidence about the Friday morning interview.
“Are you religious?” asked the detectives of Mr Doyle.
“Not really,” he responded.
“Do you believe in God?” he was asked.
“I do and I don’t,” he said.
Mr Doyle was asked if he admitted the shooting because he felt guilty. “My bird was involved as well,” he replied.
“Was your intention to kill the person you shot?” he was asked. “I told you I shot him. I followed him and I shot him,” he responded.
“Obviously it was your intention to kill him. Is that fair to say?” he was asked again later. “Yeah,” he responded.
The accused marked on a map the garden into which he chased Mr Geoghegan.
“I seen Shane up against the wall… I leaned over and shot him… Twice, just twice in the head,” he explained.
“He asked me to stop,” he said, adding that he said nothing to Mr Geoghegan.
“He sort of fell down,” he continued. “He was leaning against the wall when I shot him and he just slid down.” He would not tell the detectives anything about the gun or who was in the stolen car to which he ran, but he denied that he was in fear.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, while agreeing that the others involved should pay too.
He agreed that he regretted the shooting and that he would turn back the clock if he could
“Is your conscience clear?” he was asked later. “You could say that, yeah,” he responded.
The detective said the accused was also asked about the gun jamming and gestured to them how he fixed it.
“He held out his right hand as if he had an imaginary pistol. With his left hand, he pulled back an imaginary slide,” explained Sgt Phillips.
The detective said that Barry Doyle had described the killers as ‘vicious’ when he first interviewed him on Tuesday February 24th 2009, two days before he made the admissions.
He said he realised that the crime was the worst the country had seen in years, describing it as ‘very bad’ Detective Garda Gerry Hogan, who had arrested Mr Doyle, testified that he had also first interviewed him that Tuesday.
Mr Doyle said that nobody deserved to die and said he condemned the killing, but he said he could not remember where he was when Mr Geoghegan was shot.
“I remember,” said the detective. “I remember him. I remember that night. It was wet.
Shane Geoghegan died afraid and frightened. I remember I saw his face. He died in fear and in terrible pain,” he added.
“I have a clear conscience,” responded the defendant. He gave the same answer later, when asked why he was so cold about the shooting.
Crime and policing analyst Brendan Power gave evidence of 70 text messages and two calls between Mr Doyle and his girlfriend in the 24 hours from 6pm on November 8th, 2008.
Under cross examination by the defence, he said that there were 163 text messages and more than a dozen calls between them on November 7th, 2008 The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul Carney and a jury of seven men and five women.