A Wicklow publican, Mr Tom Nevin, lodged no pub takings in the bank on the weekend before his death, a jury in the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.
The jury also heard that his widow, Mrs Catherine Nevin, initially refused to give a full statement to gardai, saying she did not trust the local station or superintendent.
Mrs Nevin (48) denies the murder of Mr Nevin (54) on March 19th, 1996, in their home at Jack White's Inn, Ballinapark, near Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow. She also denies soliciting three named men to kill him in 1989 and 1990.
Sgt Martin McAndrew told Mr Peter Charleton SC, prosecuting, that when he arrived at 4.45 a.m. on March 19th, the front door was open six inches.
"As soon as I got out of the patrol car I heard the sound of a person moaning," he said. When he rushed inside, he saw Mrs Nevin in the corner behind the door. "When she saw me she slumped in the corner," he said.
Sgt MacAndrew said the gags around her mouth were not tied very tightly and he pulled them down easily. It was Mrs Nevin who first asked: "Where's Tom?", the witness said. When he found the body in the kitchen, "there was no smell of any gunsmoke or anything like that". The next day, Mrs Nevin spoke to him when he was on duty at the pub. His note of what she said read: "She was woken up and tied up. She heard a sound like a pot falling, and people shouting. The man that tied her up said `Where's the jewellery?' several times."
Cross-examined by Mr Patrick MacEntee SC, Sgt McAndrew denied he had "doctored or altered" his notes.
Mr John Slattery, manager of the AIB branch in Wicklow town, told Mr Tom O'Connell, prosecuting, that Mrs Nevin came to collect coins at the bank on Friday, March 15th, before the bank holiday weekend. She asked him the latest time to make a lodgment. He told her it was 4.30 p.m.
Det Garda Joe Collins of Arklow said he interviewed Mrs Nevin on the morning of the murder and later, at 12.55 p.m., asked her to make a statement.
She refused. He said Mrs Nevin had said she would sign no statement and wanted a guarantee from a superior officer - "Not the superintendent, because I don't trust him" - that what she said would not end up on a desk in Arklow and be "doctored".
He alleged she told him: "I don't trust anyone in Arklow station, present company excluded. I won't sign anything. It's dangerous to sign anything."
On the following day Mrs Nevin told Det Garda Collins her solicitor had advised her to co-operate and she made a full witness statement, which she signed. Mr MacEntee continued to focus on two items of evidence: Mr Nevin's wallet, which was found lying outside his inside jacket pocket, and the pocket itself, which was bloodstained and found detached or torn from the jacket.
On Friday the jury heard from Det Garda John O'Neill, formerly of the fingerprint section of the Garda Technical Bureau, that the items were left at the scene for two days before Det Garda O'Neill removed them.
Under further cross-examination yesterday, Det Garda O'Neill said Mrs Nevin was present as he worked at the scene and was "to say the least, disruptive. She was agitated and creating a scene". He said he "bagged" Mr Nevin's pocket when it came to the attention of his superior, Det Sgt Moses Morrissey.
Reminded that in his original statement he had said: "The widow of Tom Nevin had handled this within my sight", the witness said his best recollection was that as he came into the lounge area a woman garda was taking the pocket from the accused.
Garda Yvonne Foran said Mrs Nevin handed her the pocket on the day of her husband's funeral. "I noticed it was saturated with blood. The blood was very dry and it was falling off in bits." She said Mrs Nevin had been carrying it around for some time before she gave it to her.