A man accused of his wife's murder in Co Cork on Christmas Eve, 1995, told gardai he was asleep in bed at the time of her death, a trial jury was told yesterday.
Mr Joseph O'Brien (49) and two of his sons, Kieran (23) and Noel (22), have denied the murder of Ms Julia O'Brien (44) at the family home in High Street, Drimoleague, Co Cork, on December 24th, 1995. Ms O'Brien had a severe alcohol problem, the jury has heard.
In the Central Criminal Court, Garda Desmond Prendergast told counsel that he met Mr Joe O'Brien as he examined the scene of his wife's death. The accused told him that the night before, he "went out for a few pints because he had been working hard all day". He came home at midnight and went straight to bed.
When the garda examined Mr and Mrs O'Brien's bedroom he found the bedclothes were bloodstained. Mr O'Brien said he could remember some commotion before his wife came up and after she left, the garda said. He thought the blood might have come from his wife who had an injury some days previously. The garda told the jury that Ms O'Brien's body was downstairs in the sitting room.
Garda John Lordan told counsel he and Garda Frank Ryan had answered a car radio call at 4.40 a.m. on Christmas Eve and went to Drimoleague. They stopped and asked two youths for directions. They later learnt they were Noel and Kieran O'Brien. They stopped another youth, who was another brother, Liam.
Mr Liam O'Brien told him his brother Noel had "knocked over their mother because she threw a bowl of soup over him". He said his mother had "been drinking all day from roughly 2 p.m." The marks on her face resulted from "tonight's fall" and from "a fall last week", Liam had told the garda.
Garda Lordan told counsel that Joe O'Brien smelt strongly of alcohol, as had Noel O'Brien, who appeared drunk. Kieran O'Brien seemed to have drink taken but was not intoxicated.
Later, Mr Justice Quirke told the jury that there were "quite extensive" legal matters that had to be dealt with in their absence. He released the jurors until Monday morning, when he hoped the trial could resume.