A PUBLICAN told the Central Criminal Court he had told his wife there was a legal problem with their adopting a baby girl before his wife and the child perished in a fire at their home.
Mr Frank McCann (36) denied a suggestion by prosecuting counsel yesterday that he had not told his wife Esther before the fire that the Adoption Board intended to refuse their application to adopt the 18 month old baby.
He said his solicitor told him of the situation concerning the adoption application for baby Jessica some two or three weeks before the fire. He said his solicitor had expressed unhappiness with the Adoption Board's decision and said he had requested a formal hearing on the matter.
Mr McCann said his solicitor advised him, because of his wife's health problems, that he should tell his wife there was a legal problem with the adoption and that all three would discuss the situation when the solicitor returned from holiday.
Mr McCann said he told his wife, and also told her that their solicitor had said that whatever happened Jessica would be staying with them.
Mr McCarin was being cross examined on the 42nd day of his trial. He has denied the murder of his wife Esther and baby Jessica at their home at Butterfield Avenue, Rathfarnham, on September 4th, 1992.
The jury has heard that Jessica was a blood relative of the defendant but not a child of his marriage. The prosecution has claimed that Mr McCann arranged the fatal fire because he did not want to tell his wife why the couple's application to adopt Jessica had been refused.
The jury has also heard that Mr Mc Cann, who owned The Cooperage pub in Blessington, Co Wicklow, had complained to gardai that he had received threatening phone calls to the pub and his home.
In court yesterday, Mr McCann told Mr Kenneth Mills SC, prosecuting, that he was questioned by different gardai over periods from November 4th to 6th, 1992.
He said he did not recall saying certain things attributed to him in garda notes of those interviews. He said some things were out of context and bits and pieces of questions and answers were left out in some interviews.
He did not agree he had said to gardai that his wife "set the whole thing alight". He said he had never told the gardai that he had fathered a child by a young girl and said he had never accepted paternity of that child.
He said he was not aware of his wife writing to the Adoption Board querying the delay in their attempt to adopt baby Jessica.
He agreed he had found the conduct of some gardai was aggressive and intimidating while other gardai had conducted themselves properly.
He accepted that the custody record contained no reference to his making complaints against gardai who interviewed him in Tallaght Garda station. He said he had made a complaint to his solicitor about one garda, who he alleged had made threats to him while in a Garda car.
The defendant said he had a conversation about a number of things with a garda outside his burned home just days after the fire. He said he had not talked to the garda about having his wife insured for £50,000 two weeks before the fire.
He said his wife had been looking into getting an insurance policy that would benefit the child," but nothing had been finalised. He said he personally had an insurance and pension plan.
He denied saying to the garda that it was a good job he had not taken out an insurance policy on his wife or the gardai would have been "at his heels".
He did not believe he had said that if he had gone his wife would have been a wealthy widow, or saying: "It's not much use to her now.
He said he had not spoken to the garda about Books of Evidence being thrown out of court on technicalities. He agreed a psychiatrist had described him as of high average intelligence.
The trial continues today before Mr Justice Carney and the jury.