A Dublin man accused of murdering his partner told gardaí he "flipped" and stabbed her to death after she threatened to prevent him from seeing their baby daughter, the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.
The court heard the accused told gardaí that he had kissed the woman after she was stabbed and before she died.
On the second day of the trial of Mr Liam Wells, Det Garda Kevin Daly, Ballymun, told the court the accused admitted to gardaí that he killed Ms Linda Dunne in their Ballymun flat.
He also admitted the subsequent stabbing of her mother, Ms Kathleen Dunne, to prevent her from getting custody of the accused's baby daughter.
The accused and Ms Dunne were drug addicts and had lived in a city hostel before getting a flat at Sillogue Road, Ballymun. Mr Wells moved out two months before the killing and went to stay with another woman in Ballymun with whom he had begun a relationship.
The accused told gardaí he loved the dead woman but said he was unhappy because she was "doing the dirt" on him. He said she was staying out late "partying" and he was concerned about the baby's safety.
On the evening of the killing, "Linda said she wanted me out" and threatened him that he would not see the baby again.
"I was crying. I flipped," the accused told gardaí. He "went at her" with a knife with three swinging movements. "I kept doing her. . .I was kissing Linda after I stabbed her.
"I did kill her and I kissed her and tried to wake her. She had told me she loved me and then she went into a spasm."
The court heard that Mr Wells placed a photograph of himself and the baby in the deceased's hand and told her "Jesus loves you".
Wells told gardaí he had intended killing himself but did not because he did not want Ms Dunne's mother to get custody of the baby. He said he changed his clothes and "went down to Shangan to kill Kathleen".
Mr Wells told gardaí he "went for Ms Kathleen Dunne with the knife" and then "nicked" her partner, Mr Joseph White. The court heard that the accused signed the Garda memos and statement.
Mr Wells (37) of Coultry Road, Ballymun, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms Linda Dunne (24) of Sillogue Road, Ballymun on September 18th, 2001 at Sillogue Road, Ballymun.
The accused admitted two further charges of assault causing harm to Kathleen Dunne and Joseph White at Shangan Avenue, Ballymun, on the same date.
The trial continues.