Murder accused claims blackmail

A retired member of the Defence Forces accused of murdering a woman in Westmeath told gardaí he was being blackmailed by her for up to €40,000 or else she would tell his wife.

Jimmy Devaney, aged 66, of Millbrook Avenue, Monksland, Athlone, has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to murdering Marie Greene in Westmeath on February 13, 2011.

The court has heard Ms Greene, who was working as a prostitute, was last seen alive on February 13 and her body was found in a bog near Ballykieran outside Athlone nine days later.

The jury was yesterday listening to memos of Garda interviews with the accused on February 21, 2011, when he told them he had lost control and stabbed Ms Greene.

He told gardaí in an interview that he had given Ms Greene up to €40,000 and €20,000 in the previous six months.

Mr Devaney said he hadn’t paid any of the money back, and was waiting for a windfall to clear his debts.

He said he drove out to a bog on the Mullingar Rd to talk to her but denied bringing a knife with him on the night in question.

Mr Devaney said Ms Greene threatened that she was going to tell her brother to collect her, and he would sort the accused out. He claimed that she was swinging the knife at him.

In the Garda interview, he said he grabbed Ms Greene and wrestled with her before throwing her into a drain.

He told gardaí that she started running at him with a knife but that he grabbed it from her and pulled her to the ground before stabbing her. He said he later buried her.

When asked by gardaí how many times he had stabbed her, he said, “I just lost it completely. She was after doing so much damage, she was holding me over a barrel for years.”

He said he had met Ms Greene 10 or 12 years earlier when he was donating clothes to her neighbour.

He said that Ms Greene propositioned him and they developed a relationship in which he would receive sexual favours in exchange for money. Mr Devaney said he would usually give her €20.

“It was opportunistic for me; she was available as a quick fix,” he told gardaí.

The trial has heard that the accused had been playing cards in a casino in Athlone that night as he regularly did.

He said he went back to play cards at the Lighthouse Casino in Custume Place after the incident.

“People knew by me I was dishevelled, out of sorts. I was like a zombie from that time on.”

The accused’s brother-in-law, Peter Boardman, told the court via videolink from the UK that he had brought a number of knives to Ireland from his time trade as a butcher.

He told Alex Owens, prosecuting, he was going to give them to a local butcher and left them at Mr Devaney’s house.

Mr Boardman testified he was shown a green-handled knife by Detective Sergeant Eamon Curley and said he recognised it. He said it was a 5in boning knife.

The trial continues before a jury with Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan presiding.