A man accused of a murder in circumstances of “almost indescribable savagery” told gardaí he acted in self-defence after the deceased told him he was “dying tonight” and came at him with a knife, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
Liam O’Leary also told gardaí he “smashed” John Casserly’s face with a glass in a Co Mayo apartment and “gouged his eye out”.
“I killed a man tonight, if you want, put me in prison ... if it wasn’t him dead it would be me,” O’Leary said.
Opening the trial this week, prosecution senior counsel Dean Kelly told the jury that when gardaí breached the door of an apartment at Tone House, Tone Street, Ballina, Co Mayo at about 12.50am on October 24th, 2024, they found Casserly lying naked on the ground, face up, with O’Leary standing over him, clothed.
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Kelly said Casserly died in circumstances of “almost indescribable savagery”, having been stabbed 27 times, including on both sides of the chest, in the abdomen, neck, left eye and genitals.
He had also suffered multiple blunt-force and incised wounds to his trunk, arms and legs. Casserly’s left eye had been removed from the skull by a combination of blunt and sharp force and all the bones on the left side of his face were fractured.
O’Leary (33), of no fixed abode but formerly of Ballina, has pleaded not guilty to Casserly’s murder.
Sgt John Melia on Friday told prosecution barrister Miska Hanahoe that gardaí arrived at the scene but waited for the Armed Support Unit (ASU) to arrive from Claremorris to breach the apartment door. He said he heard a commotion as O’Leary was restrained and entered when the scene was declared safe.
He said he saw the body of a naked male lying on his back in the livingroom area with multiple stab wounds to his chest and a serious laceration to his neck. His face was disfigured and covered in blood. Melia arrested O’Leary, who told him: “It was self-defence, he tried to kill me”.
When asked why Casserly was naked, O’Leary replied: “He took off his clothes and whipped me with them.”
Det Gda Aidan Brennan said that when O’Leary was placed in a garda van, he continued talking.
“That man [Mr Casserly] said, ‘you are dying tonight’. He came at me with a knife. I smashed his face with a glass and gouged his eye out. He stabbed me in the arm. It was either him or me. I killed a man tonight, if you want, put me in prison. I’m bleeding from my arm. If it wasn’t him dead it would be me.”
Dr William Brunker said he pronounced Casserly dead at 1.31am that morning. He noted injuries to his throat and groin along with lacerations to his abdomen. His left eye was removed and was “some distance from his remains”, the doctor said.
He later attended Ballina Garda station to treat O’Leary for “minor abrasions” to his left arm and prescribed an anti-inflammatory for pain.
ASU member Sgt Sean Maher told Kelly that gardaí broke down the apartment door and shouted “armed gardaí” as they entered. He saw Casserly on the floor with O’Leary standing over him.
He said O’Leary ignored repeated demands to get on the ground so, having noted he was not armed, he approached and used “soft hands” to put O’Leary on a couch, where he was handcuffed.
The trial continues before Judge Melanie Greally and a jury of nine men and three women.
