A court in Craigavon, Co Armagh, was told yesterday by crown counsel that an argument which arose in a house in Portadown last year resulted in the fatal stabbing of one of two brothers. In court before Mr Justice Sheil and a jury was Mr Martin Joseph Richard Murray, of Obins Avenue, Portadown, who pleaded not guilty to murdering his brother, Mr Paul Henry Murray, at Obins Avenue on July 10th last year.
Mr Ronald Appleton QC, prosecuting, said that on July 10th, 1997, early in the morning, the defendant killed his brother by stabbing him six times with a kitchen knife. The stab wounds were made "by deliberate blows and could not have been afflicted accidentally during the struggle". There was a considerable amount of alcohol in the deceased man's body, indicating he was heavily intoxicated when he died.
The defendant was said by counsel to have denied delivering a stab wound when questioned by the RUC. "He must have fallen on a knife," counsel read from a statement made by Mr Murray to police.
The hearing continues today.