A teenage witness said he could not keep a murder confession a secret despite promising the accused he would not tell anyone, a murder trial jury at the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.
Mr Michael O'Brien (27), single and unemployed, of Gallowsfield, Tralee, Co Kerry pleaded not guilty to the murder of James Healy (16) of Shanakill, Tralee, Co Kerry at Monavalley Industrial Estate, Tralee on or about February 22nd, 1997.
Defence counsel Mr Blaise O'Carroll asked Mr Darren O'Shea why he betrayed the trust of the accused man. Mr O'Shea replied "because my best friend was after getting killed".
Mr O'Shea described his response to hearing the accused's alleged confession as one of "shock" but said he did not know whether to believe Mr O'Brien.
Mr O'Shea said he had a conversation with the accused on St Patrick's night, weeks after Mr Healy's murder, and had asked him who he thought did it.
Mr O'Brien allegedly said "Between me and you deputy, I killed James" and then asked Mr O'Shea not to tell anyone.
Describing the alleged conversation as "astonishing", Mr Blaise O'Carroll SC asked Mr O'Shea if he concocted the "dazzling piece of information" to improve his standing with gardai after having been in trouble with them before.
Mr O'Shea denied he invented the allegation and said "I'm only saying what I was told."
An aunt of the accused, Mrs Bernadette O'Brien, of Shanakill, Tralee, told the court Mr O'Brien had said he had needed to wash his clothes on the weekend of Mr Healy's death because they were "in a state".
Asked if she believed Mr O'Brien had said Mr Healy had fallen off a roof and "bashed his head", Mrs O'Brien said "He did say that."
Ms Sabrina O'Brien, a cousin of the accused, told the court that when asked if he knew if Mr Healy was "found yet" after going missing, Mr O'Brien replied: "He's probably in a field across from as FAS with a bar across him with his face bashed in."
Mr O'Brien and the deceased were allegedly associates who drank cider together occasionally in Tralee town.
After having been missing for three days, Mr Healy's body was found on waste ground near a factory off the Monavalley Road in Tralee, Co Kerry.
State Pathologist Prof John Harbison told the court how Mr Healy had had 13 of his teeth knocked out, pieces of his jaw dislodged and had 20 head injuries.
Three and a half of Mr Healy's teeth were later found lodged in his windpipe and lungs. Professor Harbison said he believed the teeth were inhaled, causing suffocation. Cause of death was as a result of suffocation, head injuries and shock.
The trial, before Mr Justice Kinlen and a jury of eight women and four men, continues on Monday.