Prints found on murder victim's door lock

The fingerprints of a man accused of murdering a young Albanian woman were found on the lock of the bedroom door where her body was found, the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.

The court also heard that no prints belonging to the chief prosecution witness were found in Ms Lindita Kukaj's bedroom at Wolfe Tone Street, Sligo.

Counsel for the defence pointed out that this witness, Mr Bashkim Osaj, has already told the jury that he was in the bedroom on the night of the murder.

Ballistics expert, Det Garda John A. Higgins, told the court that the door of the bedroom seemed to have been wiped down.

Det Garda Patrick O'Brien of the Garda Technical Bureau told the court he had compared prints at the home of Ms Kukaj with the three sets of fingerprints taken from the accused, the deceased and Mr Osaj.

Garda O'Brien confirmed to defence counsel, Mr Peter Finlay SC, that he found no prints belonging to Mr Osaj in the bedroom where Ms Kukaj's body was found.

Mr Osaj has told the jury that Ms Kukaj had brought him and the accused into the bedroom to look at photographs.

An Albanian national, Mr Eduart Kulici (26), The Maltings, Bonham Street, Dublin, is pleading not guilty to the murder of Ms Kukaj (23), at her home on February 22rd, 2003.

The jury heard that detectives questioning Mr Kulici asked whether he had told the young woman on the night of the murder that he had no house and no car but that he could pay her £1,500 a week if she worked in Dublin.

Mr Kulici replied: "Bashkim told her I owned two restaurants in Dublin."

The jury heard that Mr Osaj, who drove from Dublin to Sligo with the accused the day before Ms Kukaj was strangled, asked directions from a uniformed garda outside Sligo Garda station as they drove into the town.

When he was being questioned by detectives, Mr Osaj said that the accused had confessed to him that he killed Ms Kukaj.

Mr Osaj told detectives: "He does not know the laboratory will find out. He is from the mountains in Albania."

The trial has been adjourned to next Tuesday.