Mother of murder victim recalls grim day

The mother of a 22-year-old Cork woman who was found dead in a park near her home in 2000 told a murder trial jury today that when she was searching for her daughter she met the man accused of her murder and rape.

Mrs Rose Kiely was giving evidence at the Central Criminal Court on the second day of the trial of an 18-year-old Corkman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

He denies murdering Rachel Kiely at the Regional Park, Ballincollig, Co Cork on 26 October 2000.

He also pleads not guilty to a second charge of rape on the same occasion.

Mrs Kiely told Mr Patrick J McCarthy SC for the prosecution that she and her youngest daughter Elizabeth went into Regional Park shortly before 6pm to look for Rachel when she failed to return from a walk.

"I became concerned when the dogs scratched at the door and Rachel wasn’t there; Rachel always came back with dogs," she said.

"I started to call Rachel’s name, we stopped for a few seconds and Elizabeth said she heard a scream. It was too horrific to think that it was Rachel, I walked on," she said.

Mrs Kiely said as she returned from her search she saw the accused man in the park. "I said ‘hi’ and he looked past me and he said ‘hi’ and that was it," she said.

Under cross-examination she told Ms Niamh Stewart BL for the defence that, "I nearly said ‘have you seen Rachel’, but I thought he’d think I was a bit paranoid".

Her husband John Kiely told the court that he and three friends, accompanied by his daughter Rosalyn and two gardaí, went back into the park at around 7.30pm.

The group took different paths in their search to find the missing 22 year-old. "As we continued the search I thought I heard in the distance a scream," he said.

"I heard a scream again and heard a cap had been found…I realised the scream was my daughter Rosalyn," he said.

Mr Kiely said he approached an old ruined building in the park where his friend Noel Walshe had discovered the woman’s body in heavy undergrowth.

"I said I wanted to see her, when I went in, that’s when I discovered her lying to the back of building in fairly heavy undergrowth," he said.

The trial continues today before Mr Justice Paul Butler and a jury.