Mother of rape victim claims accused was near rape scene

The mother of a 22-year-old Cork woman who was found strangled and raped in a derelict ruin in a park near her home identified the accused man in court today as the man she saw near the scene of the murder shortly after her daughter went missing.

Mrs Rose Kiely was giving evidence at the Central Criminal Court on the second day of the trial of an 18-year-old Cork man who denies murdering Rachel Kiely at the Regional Park, Ballincollig, Co Cork on 26 October 2000.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, 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," Mrs Kiely said.

"It was too horrific to think that it was Rachel, I walked on," she said.

Mrs Kiely said she gave up on her search and turned back towards home when 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.

In 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".

Prosecution claim it is of "substantial significance" that the accused was near the ruin where the body of the deceased was found at about 6.15 or 6.20pm.

Her husband John Kiely told the court that himself, his daughter Rosalyn and a number of family friends from the Jehovah's Witness community got a search party together to look for Rachel at 7.30pm that evening.

Accompanied by two gardai, the group went into the 130-acre park and searched the different pathways by torchlight.

"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 the old ruins 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.

Noel Walsh told the court that the body "appeared to be covered by a black, wet cloth bag".

"I pulled some of the fern leaves just off the top, I could see a bit of bare skin on the waistline and I touched her to see was the body warm," he said.

The sister of the deceased, Rosalyn Kiely gave evidence that she identified her sister's baseball cap at the entrance to the old ruins in the Regional Park.

"Noel Walshe called out and asked the colour of the cap, it was in the entrance of the old ruins on the ground...it was my cap, my sister wore it on her walk," she said.

"At the start I was really scared, I just stayed outside and then followed Noel up a steep embankment, I was very upset," she said.

None of those involved in the search saw the accused man near the scene at this time.

A friend of the accused, Mr Luke Mansfield told the court that on the day of Ms Kiely's death he left his place of work by motorcycle with the accused and another friend.

He worked with the accused and said that although the accused had not gone to work that day, he was outside the premises on his motorbike at 4.45pm.

The three drove through Regional Park on their way back to Ballincollig.

"He (the accused) hid his bike down a trench by the canal ... the three of us left the park shortly after 5 o'clock, (the accused) walked beside us," Mr Mansfield said.

He did not see the accused going into his house, but he arranged to call to Mr Mansfield's house ten minutes later for some assistance fixing his motorcycle, he said.

"He never called over, I sent him a text saying 'what's the story', but got no reply so I stayed at home," he said.

Later that evening, close to 7pm, he met the accused again in another friend's house and asked him why he had not called over.

"He said he was spinning around on his bike, that he'd just forgotten," he said.

The prosecution alleges that it was "in or about the hour" from 5.30pm to 6.30pm that the young woman was raped and murdered.

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