Murder trial hears body found with hands tied in front

THE body of a Fermoy man was found on waste ground off a side road in Kerry with his hands bound in front of him with a white shoelace, the murder trial jury heard yesterday.

Detective Sergeant John Heaslip described the scene: “It was raining heavily... I checked for signs of life. I checked for a pulse. There was no sign of life. The body of the male person was lying on his right hand side. His hands were bound together in front of him with what appeared to be the white lace of a runner and part of a brush handle (between his hands).”

Gardaí from Listowel had returned to this area following a call from Watercourse Road Garda Station in Cork in relation to a report posted on the Pulse Garda information system about a car being stopped on the road at Ardcullen, Ballyduff, Co Kerry, earlier that day, November 6, 2008, with Gillian Purcell sitting in the passenger seat and John Walsh at the side of the car.