The heavily blood-stained T-shirt and outer garment of chef Fergal Landy, who was stabbed to death with a kitchen knife in Killarney in January last year, were displayed to the jury at the murder trial in the Central Criminal Court in Tralee, Co Kerry, yesterday.
The accused, Joe Greaney, who worked as a chef in Killarney, has pleaded not guilty to the murder, but guilty to the manslaughter of his best friend and former colleague, 27-year-old Fergal Landy, at Cahernane Meadows Killarney, between January 24th and 25th, 2005.
On the third day of the trial yesterday the wide-bladed, bloodstained knife used to kill the victim was displayed. Two broken golf clubs were also shown to the jury.
State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy, who carried out the postmortem at Kerry General Hospital, described two slits, 2.8cms each and 10cms apart on the white T-shirt and a lightweight Calvin Klein sweatshirt. They "corresponded" to the injuries on the body of Mr Landy.
The two "large slits" were made with what Dr Cassidy described as "a chef's- style knife with a black handle and broad blade with a single sharp edge".
On the chest below the left nipple was "an open gaping wound up to four centimetres wide".
Evidence was given that Greaney stayed at the scene and tried to help the injured man. He told gardaí at the scene that he had stabbed him. "I did it, I stabbed him, I am so sorry, I killed him, I am so sorry. He was my best friend," he told Garda Brendan Cronin.
Garda Gillian MacEoin gave evidence that when the accused was brought into station in custody on the 25th, he had a number of cuts and bruises, including a cut on his throat and left ear, on the hair line and to the right eye. He was extremely distressed,
In an interview with Insp Dan Keane, Greaney said Mr Landy was his "best friend". They had had a row the previous week when the deceased had unexpectedly punched him after he was talking to Mr Landy's partner, Rachel Doyle, at closing time in a pub.
On the night of the 24th he had been drinking at home at around 11.30pm and wanted to clear the air before he left for Ballina for a new job, he told Insp Keane. He texted Mr Landy to say he was coming over. Mr Landy told him that "if I came anywhere near him he'd kill me", he told Insp Keane.
The text message he sent from his wife's phone which said "I am coming for you" meant "I am coming over to chat", Greaney said in the interview.
He left his house and crossed the estate towards the Landy apartment carrying a knife and a golf club. When he arrived there Mr Landy ran out carrying a club.
"We were swinging at one another with golf clubs. The knife was in my hand. Fergal struck me first. I said I have a knife and a golf club."
When both golf clubs got broken"we got stuck into each other, Fergal bit my left ear, then I stuck the knife into his stomach", he said in the interview.
He was on medication, Zantax and Lexpro, and should not have been drinking but had drunk two bottles of wine, he told Det Garda Bill Stack. He had wanted to clear the air, but when the deceased had said: "I will kill you Greaney if you come over". It had made him angry.
"I was acting the hard man," he said of his decision to go to the home of the deceased. On the ground he had the knife in his hand and it went into Mr Landy.
When he saw blood, the struggle stopped and he tied his fleece around the injured man and tried to stem the blood. He also sought help.
The trial continues.