Woman killed over pregnancy, gardaí told

The man charged with murdering Laois nanny Aoife Phelan told detectives he killed her because her pregnancy was going to scupper his relationship with his ex-girlfriend.

The jury in Robert Corbet’s trial yesterday heard extracts from the interviews he gave gardaí after her body was found on his property.

The 25-year-old from Capoley, Sheffield Cross, has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to murdering Ms Phelan. However, he has admitted the manslaughter of the 30-year-old between October 25 and November 7, 2012, when her body was found in a barrel, buried in Capoley.

Det Garda Brian Hanley testified yesterday that he interviewed the accused on November 7, hours after Ms Phelan’s body was found.

Mr Corbet said he had collected her in Portlaoise on the evening of October 25 and brought her to Capoley and that they had chatted in a garage while he cleaned out his SUV.

“Then an argument broke out about our relationship. She wanted a relationship and I didn’t,” he said. “If I didn’t agree... she’d ruin my life, which, as I sit here, is ironic,” he told gardaí.

He said he snapped, put his right forearm around her neck, and they fell to the ground. He said she banged her head and he saw blood coming from her eye.

“I had a good, firm grip,” he said.

“What were you trying to do?” he was asked.

“Kill her,” he replied.

Mr Corbet said he started to panic when she didn’t move. He said he realised she was dead and saw an empty barrel. He put a black sack over her head. “I put two cable ties around it,” he said. He was asked why he had put the bag over her head. “I wasn’t sure she was dead so I wanted to make sure,” he said. “It was as if I had this fear that she was going to come back to life.” He was asked if he had wanted her to come back to life. “No,” he replied.

He said he put her in the barrel, sealed it, and left it in the shed overnight. The following morning, he drove it over to a large hole he had dug a few weeks earlier and rolled it in.

Det Garda Conor Murphy said he interviewed the accused the following morning, on November 8. He was asked if Ms Phelan was an obstacle.

“She was an obstacle, but nothing that couldn’t be talked out,” Mr Corbet told gardaí.

He agreed that she was a big barrier to him getting back together with his ex-girlfriend.

“The pregnancy was going to scupper it, the love of your life. Is that why you killed Aoife Phelan?” he was asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

“And this was the problem out of the way?” asked the detective.

“Yes,” he said.

The trial continues.