Accused ‘could not accept wife killed herself’

A DUBLIN businessman accused of murdering his wife told gardaí that he could not accept she had killed herself but denied being guilty of the crime.

A murder trial heard yesterday that Brian Kearney admitted during a video-taped interview in Dundrum Garda Station that his wife Siobhan had died in their family home at a time when its sole occupants were the couple and their 3½-year-old son, Daniel. However, Kearney said he was “puzzled” by the circumstances of how his wife had died.

A jury at the Central Criminal Court heard the details of a Garda interview with Kearney following his arrest for the murder of his wife just 48 hours after her death.

“I didn’t do it. I didn’t fight with her. We didn’t have rows,” Kearney told gardaí. However, he also admitted that his wife was seeking a divorce even though there was “no animosity” between them.

The 50-year-old father of two has denied murdering Siobhan Kearney at their home at Knocknashee, Goatstown, Dublin on February 28, 2006.

Mr Kearney informed gardaí that he had slept with his son in a separate bedroom to his wife on the night before her death.

The following morning, Mr Kearney and his son woke and had breakfast together. At 8.30am, he tried the door to Siobhan’s room but found it locked, which he said was unusual. He shouted out “I’m off” but there was no response.

Mr Kearney said he gave his son a kiss before jumping into his van and heading off to work. He first became aware something was wrong when he received a call from Siobhan’s mother at about 10.30am.

In a statement to gardaí, Mr Kearney expressed disbelief that his wife could be suicidal, despite the fact that she was “a little bit stressed”.

“I can’t understand it. I am baffled. She loved Daniel. She wouldn’t leave him for a moment. She was so concerned about him,” he remarked.

In other evidence, the trial heard that Ms Kearney was about to start judicial separation proceedings at the time of her death.

Letters written by her solicitor, Hugh Hannigan to her husband in 2006 stated she believed her marriage had “irretrievably broken down” and she was worried about the “safety and care” of their son.

Ms Kearney complained that the isolation she felt at running a hotel and minding Daniel on her own in Mallorca had become “unbearable”. However, she was pressurised by her husband to return to Spain, even though she wanted to settle permanently in Ireland.

Kearney told gardaí he was “in shock” after his wife had sought a marital separation in January 2006 shortly after they returned from a family holiday.

He admitted there was a “coolness” between them since she had sent him a solicitor’s letter on the subject.

The trial heard Mr Kearney’s mother washed clothing worn by the accused on the night of his wife’s death.

Mr Kearney had earlier asked and was told by detectives that they would require the clothes he was wearing.