Graham Dwyer said relationship with O’Hara not sexual, ‘but we had sex,’ court told

Graham Dwyer told gardaí he could understand how his DNA came to be in Elaine O'Hara's apartment at Belarmine Plaza in Stepaside, but he said it was nothing of a "sexual nature".

Gardaí questioning Mr Dwyer on October 17th 2013, told him their forensic scientists had worked all day on evidence found at Belarmine and that the accused’s DNA was found at Elaine O’Hara’s apartment.

Mr Dwyer said: “I can understand how it could be there, but I didn’t kill anybody.”

Mr Dwyer also denied knowledge of an 083 phone bought at a 3 store in Grafton Street, which has been associated with text messages sent to Ms O’Hara.

Det Garda Peter Woods, who arrested Mr Dwyer on the morning of October 17th 2013 is giving evidence of the arrest, charge and questioning of Mr Dwyer for the alleged murder of Ms O'Hara.

Mr Dwyer (42), an architect, Kerrymount Close, Foxrock, is charged with murdering childcare worker Ms O’Hara (36) on August 22nd, 2012.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Ms O’Hara’s remains were found in forestry on Killakee Mountain, Rathfarnham, on September 13th, 2013.

Mr Dwyer said he could understand if his hair or fingerprints had been found at Belarmine Plaza but it was “nothing of a sexual nature”.

It was, he told gardaí, “like talking to a member of my family”.

“It’s not sexual. It’s not like the stuff (texts) you are reading out. I’m confident I did not kill anybody and I’m relying on that,” he said.

Mr Dwyer told the gardaí questioning him: “I will not air my dirty laundry here if it’s going beyond here.

“I think I know what’s coming next, but I don’t want my wife hurt.”

Later in the questioning, Mr Dwyer admitted he had had sex with Ms O’Hara and had done “whatever she wanted”. “I suppose I wanted to meet her for some stuff.”

Ms O’Hara, he said, “was not very attractive”.

They had met a few times over the years and Ms O’Hara had wanted to be chained up. She had also asked him to kill her at one stage.

Over four years, there had been possibly three periods when he had been connected with Ms O’Hara. He contacted her by phone, email or a text message.

“The ultimate thing for Elaine is she wanted to be kept all day in a cage with a bowl of water,” he told gardaí.

Asked if killing her was a fantasy of his, Mr Dwyer told gardaí: “I would say no. She did not like sex and made it clear that sex hurt her. All she wanted was to be in a position of no control.”

Mr Dwyer told gardaí he would chain and tie up Ms O’Hara with her own rope.

He said he knew they were trying to connect things to his horror films but it was not real. “It’s a game,” he told them.

Texts about planned stabbing and rape, many of which have already been heard in evidence, were read to the accused.

One text read to the accused said that this “untraceable” phone would be off between 5pm and 8am, “unless we are planning stuff”.

In response to the content of text message read out from Elaine O’Hara’s phone, Mr Dwyer said: “What are you doing? It’s not me. It’s not my phone. It doesn’t make sense.”

In response to a text read to him in which the sender said “killing is my new goal”, Mr Dwyer replied: “Jesus”.

Several times he asked gardaí to “please stop”. “That’s awful, could you please stop.”

He said the messages being read to him were “designed to upset me”.

Mr Dwyer repeatedly said: “Oh my God, that’s not me” and “that’s not my phone” when Mr Woods read the contents of text messages between phones that were allegedly associated with him.

The accused also told gardaí he was not going to discuss his sex life as that was “private”.

In one response to the gardaí questioning him, Mr Dwyer replied: “You said it excites me. Do I have an erection?”

Another reply to a text about wanting to “hurt” the recipient drew the reply from the accused: “This is really not turning me on. Do you want to check?”

Questioned about what films he had been watching the night before his arrest, Mr Dwyer told gardaí they were “erotic horror”.

But he asked them: “Please stop. I’m thinking of my wife and kids. My private life is my private life. Please stop.”

Upon hearing further messages, Mr Dwyer responded: “I’m mortified to describe it. I didn’t kill anybody.”

“Please stop, they are not relevant,” Mr Dwyer said at one point in response to the texts being read.

In reply, Mr Woods told him: “They are very relevant.”

Mr Dwyer asked Det Garda Woods to stop reading the messages to him. "Please stop. Jesus Christ, please stop. Is this going to go on all night?"

He also said: “Please stop. I’m not the one who sent these text messages.”

Mr Woods replied: “We can connect this phone to you 100 per cent.”

The accused said he really did not want to hear anymore. “I’ve asked you a hundred times.”

Mr Dwyer also denied having a rucksack similar to the one that was recovered from the Vartry reservoir along with other items.