Accused: I prayed for dead man every day

The man on trial for murder told gardaí more than a week after the deceased was found in the rubbish chute of an apartment complex that he prayed for him every day.

One member of the investigative team said to the accused that to put someone in a chute was “the most evil act imaginable”, and it was going through the mind of each garda dealing with the case. The officer then said to the accused: “I am looking at the devil.” David O’Loughlin replied: “That is an awful thing to say.”

Mr O’Loughlin, aged 28, of Garden City Apartments, North Main St, Cork, denies murdering Liam Manley, aged 59, at that address on May 12, 2013. Mr Manley’s remains were found in a refuse chute which ran from the top of the four-floor complex to the ground floor.