A MAN told gardai he tried to have sex with a 13 year old girl before strangling her with his scarf and then throwing a 20lb stone on her head, the Central Criminal Court was told yesterday.
The court was told the man, in a statement, said he had gone for a walk with the schoolgirl on the afternoon of Sunday, April 14th, last year.
He said when he first set out on the walk he "did not think of doing anything to her". But when they were at a certain place he said he thought "now is the time to have sex with her".
He asked the girl to go into a field to pick mushrooms and they sat on the grass. He then grabbed her and tried to have sex with her but she resisted.
He said he tried to strangle her with his scarf and tightened it around her throat until she went purple. He said the girl was still breathing. He then picked up a stone and threw it at her head.
He said he could see blood and knew the girl was dead. "I felt relief it was over," he was said to have told gardai.
Later, he said it "took her a long time to die" and that he was "very tired" after killing her.
He said he was very sorry for what he had done and hoped the girl's parents would find it in their hearts to forgive him.
The statement was read to the court on the opening day of the trial of the man who has denied the murder and attempted rape of the 13 year old girl.
Opening the case, Mr Sean Ryan SC, prosecuting, said it was "sordid and painful". He said the main issue which the jury had to decide was whether the defendant was legally insane at the time of the incident.
Mr Ryan said the defendant had initially said he went for a walk with the girl and she had left him to be back home at 3.45 p.m. that day. But gardai had persisted with the questioning and the defendant then directed them to a field where they found the girl's body.
The man was arrested and admitted killing the girl. He said the defendant was fully compos mentis and had talked about the need for a pathologist and also referred to forensics.
The defendant had made a detailed statement about the incident while in custody on April 15th, 1996, Mr Ryan added.
The statement was read to the court. In it, the man said he had been standing outside his home on the afternoon of April 14th, 1996, when he saw the girl knocking on a nearby door.
He said they decided to go for a walk. She had gone to her parents and came back saying she had permission to go for a walk, but had to be home at 3.45 p.m. She wanted to go up town but he said he wanted to go out the country. She eventually agreed to that, he said.
They came to a field and when he suggested they go in and pick mushrooms, the girl had replied: "You and your mushrooms," according to the statement.
He said the girl kept asking the time and he said to her: "Don't worry, I will bring you back safely." He said they sat down and talked "and then I got .... by the two arms and pushed her back on the ground with her face facing me".
He said he pulled down her trousers and she began to scream. He tried to have sex with her but she struggled and he stopped. The girl said: "You are going to kill me."
"I took out a purple coloured scarf that I had in my right pocket and she began to scream again and said to me: `Don't do that.' I then put my left hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming."
He said the girl "was still facing me and I was on my knees when I put the scarf round the back of her head and looped the scarf, and tightened it for a while".
He said: "She then went purple but took a good while to die. I tightened the grip again on the scarf and she stopped struggling."
He said the girl was still breathing at that stage and he took the scarf from around her neck. He said he started to panic and lifted the girl over beside the ditch.
"I could see .... was still breathing and I automatically grabbed a big stone by the ditch with both hands and stood back from .... I positioned the stone chest high and threw the stone at her head and it made contact."
He said he threw the stone into the ditch. "I felt relief at this stage that it was now over and I could feel myself getting weak."
The man said he had gone to a number of places before returning home at about 9 p.m. When the gardai arrived later, he said he had directed them to where the girl's body was.
He said when he had first gone out for the walk with the girl he "did not think of doing anything to her". But when they got to a particular place he said: "I said to myself now is the time to have sex with her." He said he did not know why he killed the girl.
He told gardai the scarf he had used had been given to him by a woman with whom he became friendly while he and she were in a psychiatric hospital. He said he was treated for a nervous problem in December 1995 and had been released from hospital in January 1996.
A Garda sergeant told the court the girl's body had been found lying face down and her face was covered in blood. She had severe head injuries and her leggings were slightly pulled down.
The man made a full statement about the incident the following day, the witness said. When asked about the stone he had used, he said the forensics would find it and laughed. He also said he had put the scarf under a water tank in the field. He was shown a scarf and identified it as the one he had used to strangle the girl.
Cross examined by Mr Patrick Gageby SC, defending, the sergeant agreed the defendant came from a well respected family who were very shocked at what had happened. He agreed the man has no previous convictions and there was nothing to indicate he had a history of violence or of preying on children.
The State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, said the girl died from very severe head injuries. Her skull was fragmented. The injuries were consistent with having been inflicted by a large stone. He was shown two stones one of which appeared to have blood on it.
Dr Harbison said there were signs of strangulation consistent with a scarf being applied to the girl's neck. It was evident that she had been alive after the attempted strangulation, but she may have been unconscious when hit with the stones, he said. There was also evidence of attempted sexual assault.
The trial continues today before Mr Justice Flood and a jury.