Graham Dwyer told gardaí: ‘I did not murder Elaine O’Hara’

Architect Graham Dwyer told gardaí "I did not murder Elaine O'Hara" after he was arrested and questioned in October 2013, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Mr Dwyer repeatedly told gardaí he did not kill anybody and expressed concern that he would end up “in the tabloids” if he was associated with the case.

Mr Dwyer also denied knowledge of an 083 phone bought at a 3 store in Grafton Street, which has been associated with text messages sent to Ms O’Hara.”

Det Garda Peter Woods, who arrested Mr Dwyer on the morning of October 17th 2013 is giving evidence of the arrest, charge and questioning of Mr Dwyer for the alleged murder of Ms O’Hara.

Mr Dwyer (42), an architect, Kerrymount Close, Foxrock, is charged with murdering childcare worker Ms O’Hara (36) on August 22nd, 2012.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Ms O’Hara’s remains were found in forestry on Killakee Mountain, Rathfarnham, on September 13th, 2013.

“I’m curious about how I came to be here. I’m thinking about my wife and kids,” Mr Dwyer said during his first interview at Blackrock Garda station on the morning of October 17th.

Asked by Det Garda Peter Woods if he believed gardaí would have arrived at his door without preparation, Mr Dwyer said he did not know.

He also expressed concern that he would leave the interview and find himself photographed with the headline: “Architect arrested for murder”.

The interview also involved “a big long discussion” about how gardaí put together an investigation and what services were used by gardaí, the court heard.

It was put to Mr Dwyer that gardaí had a “full picture” of everyone Elaine O’Hara had been in contact with.

Mr Woods told the defendant that what Ms O’Hara did sexually was “her own business” and gardaí would not judge people.

“Her private life is her private life,” Mr Woods said during the interview.

Asked if he had read about what was recovered from the reservoir in Roundwood, Mr Dwyer said he did not want to be associated with the case.

If he thought he was going to be in any “tabloids” he would “jump in the river”, he told gardaí.

Mr Dwyer also said he had his wife’s trust.

Asked if his wife trusted him, he said that if she did he was “lucky” and he wanted to keep that trust. He had previously had “bad relationships”, he said.

Mr Woods asked the accused: “How did we get to your door?”

“I would not like to guess. I didn’t kill anybody,” Mr Dwyer said.

Mr Woods told the accused during the interview he would have “decisions to make” and that he should not make them based on his “standing in the community”.

During a second interview later the same day, gardaí showed Mr Dwyer still images from video footage in which he could be seen entering Elaine O’Hara’s apartment building at Belarmine Plaza in Stepaside.

He told gardaí: “I’m glad I’m not murdering anyone in any of those photographs.”

The court had earlier heard that gardaí found video footage on a hard drive in which Mr Dwyer placed a plastic bag over the head of Elaine O’Hara and ‘strangled’ her.

Mr Woods agreed with prosecution counsel Seán Guerin that he had viewed video footage from hard drives belonging to Mr Dwyer which have not been shown to the court.

Mr Woods agreed the video files seen by the jury had shown footage of injuries and stabbing, and that the other files showed sexual activity or activities involving BDSM (bondage, discipline and sado-masochism).

He was satisfied from examining two rooms shown in the videos and from his identification of the two people in them that they were Mr Dwyer and Elaine O’Hara.

One of the rooms was an apartment at Rockville Crescent and the other a premises at Ardmeen Lodge on Newtownpark Avenue, where Ms O’Hara had previously lived.

Mr Woods agreed that in one of the sub folders on a hard drive, he had found a video which showed Mr Dwyer kneeling behind Ms O’Hara and placing a clear plastic bag over her head.

He had then wrapped a cable around her neck to tighten the bag.

Ms O’Hara could be seen in the video going limp and falling to one side, the court heard.

Mr Woods also gave evidence of arresting Mr Dwyer at 7.08am at his home on October 13th, 2013 on suspicion of murdering Ms OHara.

In reply to caution, when asked if he had anything to say, Mr Dwyer had said: “I don’t know what you are talking about”.

Mr Dwyer had been allowed to retrieve his wallet and phone and to open combination locks on two sheds before he was taken to Blackrock Garda station.

Mr Woods said he had a conversation with the accused in the Garda car on the way and informed him he had been arrested for the most serious of offences he could be arrested for.

He advised Mr Dwyer that he needed proper legal advice and told him he should consult his solicitor fully.

Mr Woods said he had personally contacted Mr Dwyer’s solicitor, John Dunphy, at 8am that morning and the solicitor arrived shortly afterwards.

On Thursday afternoon the court heard that when Mr Woods put it to Mr Dwyer during his third interview on the night he was arrested that he had a stabbing fetish, Mr Dwyer answered: “Oh my God, that’s not my phone.”