Murder accused admitted having sex with victim twice

A man who denies murdering a 29-year-old Mayo woman in December 2000 admitted to a special team of Garda investigators more than six months later that he had sex with her twice, the Central Criminal Court was told yesterday.

In a statement taken by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation on June 28, 2001, construction worker Martin Earley, of Banagher, Carrowmore Lacken, Ballina, explained he had been in a relationship with Sandra Collins, of Courthouse St, Killala, in the weeks before she vanished.

He said the last occasion they met was on December 1, 2000, when they had sex in Earley’s Hiace van. Ms Collins was last seen in Killala around 11pm on December 4, after visiting the local takeaway. Her body has never been found.

Martin Earley, who was married, denies murder.

In the 2001 statement, signed by the accused and read out in court yesterday, Earley outlined how he had got to know Ms Collins socially in late 2000. One night they kissed and cuddled in an alleyway after he walked her home from a pub.

In the statement he said initially Ms Collins believed he was single but later she told him she knew he was married.

On December 1, they left they pub separately and went to Earley’s van in the Centra (Ward’s) car park. “We got into the van and had sex, by this I mean full sexual intercourse. This was the second occasion that we had full intercourse. I always wore a condom,” his statement said.

At the conclusion of his statement, Earley said that on Monday, December 4, 2000, he spoke to Ms Collins on the telephone.

“She said she had something to tell me… that she was in a small bit of trouble, that she was expecting a baby for about two months and that it ‘had nothing to do with’ him [Earley].

“She asked for ‘a few pounds’ as she did not want to go through another pregnancy and said that... she would need about £1,000.

“I was shocked because she never told me she was pregnant but I didn’t take her request for money as a threat. She simply asked me for help and I would help her to a certain extent,” the statement said.

The accused said the last time he physically saw Ms Collins was on December 1, but they had phone contact on December 4 — the day she disappeared.

Earlier he said he had lied to gardaí in a bid to protect his marriage.

The trial continues.