State witness Charles Bowden has told the Special Criminal Court that the man accused of murdering journalist Veronica Guerin had instructed him to load the murder weapon the day before the killing. Bowden also yesterday denied a suggestion by Mr Brian Meehan's counsel that he had shot Ms Guerin and had tried to "switch his responsibility" for the murder to Mr Meehan.
It was the 15th day of the trial of Mr Meehan (34), no fixed abode, formerly of Clifton Court, Dublin, and Stanaway Road, Crumlin, Dublin, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Guerin (36) at Naas Road, Clondalkin, Dublin, on June 26th, 1996.
Bowden told Mr John McCrud den QC, defending, that he armed a Magnum revolver knowing it was to be used against Ms Guerin.
"My own interpretation was that she was going to be shot at or threatened. My belief was that she could have been shot, could have been shot at, to frighten her. The impression I got from all the general conversation was that [Mr A, the drugs gang leader] wanted her off his back," he added.
Bowden said the gang never told him specifically if they were going to shoot her or kill her. He dealt with the weapons when they came in to the lock-up at Harold's Cross used by the gang to distribute cannabis. His job was to clean and prepare the weapons for storage in the cemetery in Tallaght.
The day before the murder, he went to the lock-up where Mr Meehan told him to load the Magnum. "Meehan turned around and said there are 12 bullets, there is the gun. Throw six in the gun and put the rest in the plastic bag." Bowden used a pair of gloves to load the gun as everyone working in the lock-up was careful about fingerprints. When Meehan picked up a bar of cannabis to test it in the lock-up, it would always be wiped afterwards.
"My position in the gang was that any arms that came in I dealt with it." He denied he was worried he had left fingerprints on the bullets he loaded into the Magnum or that the gardai would discover them. Bowden said he had never discussed Ms Guerin with Mr A but had discussed cannabis with him.
He agreed that in a statement he made in March 1997, he told gardai that Mr Meehan told him he was "surprised how cool" the hit-man was when he emptied his gun into Ms Guerin.
Bowden denied a suggestion by Mr McCrudden that he shot Ms Guerin or that he had been on the Naas dual carriageway when she was shot. The trial continues today.