Accused admitted murder to teen, court hears

A teenager told a murder trial jury today that one of two men accused of murdering a woman in her Cork city flat told her that they had done it.

Ms Maressa Cuddihy said that Thomas Penkert told her that Ms Nora Kiely was strangled and went on to describe the look on her face. "It was funny," he had told her.

But a second teenager said that Penkert, who she met through an internet chat room, had told her during a phone conversation that his co accused Brian Walsh had killed Ms Kiely.

Ms Hazel O' Boyle said that Penkert told her after calling her while she was on a family holiday in Gran Canaria that he had not gone near Ms Kiely and that he had never intended to kill her.

Oth Ms Cuddihy and Ms O' Boyle gave their evidence through a videolink at the Central Criminal Court.

Thomas Penkert (aged 21) and Brian Walsh (aged 22), with an address at Leitrim St in Cork have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms Nora Kiely (aged 46) on July 15, 2002.

Ms Kiely - described in court as a private person who was always well-dressed - was found strangled in her flat, naked from the waist down with a small black-handled knife under her hand.

The jury has heard that Penkert and Walsh were living in a flat in the block. They have both admitted robbing Ms Kiely of less than €20 in cash and two items of jewellery.

The two men have denied a charge that they attempted to enter another flat in the building with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm on another neighbour, Ms Teresa Tatton, on July 15, 2002.

Penkert and Walsh have also pleaded guilty to stealing a blue-handled knife, a tub of butter, some groceries and drinks and a phone charger from Ms Tatton's address.

But they pleaded not guilty to a charge that between July 8 and 14, 2002 they robbed Donal Scannell, another resident of the Leitrim St building, of less than €70 in cash.

Ms Cuddihy said that she met Penkert and Walsh outside her house on July 16 , 2002.

"They had a local paper, The Echo, and on the front page was that there was a murder in Leitrim St. They were showing the article to me. They said it was us, referring to them."

Ms Cuddihy said she thought it was a joke and did not take it seriously. She said that the next evening the two men came to her house again and again they had a copy of the paper. She said Penkert said that the killing "was just done for a laugh".

Ms O' Boyle told the jury that she had met Penkert through an internet chat room and had arranged to meet him when she and her family were about to leave from Cork airport for a holiday in Gran Canaria.

She said she met Penkert for about 20 minutes and they sat on a bench and talked. When she was on holiday Penkert rang her on her mobile phone and told her he was in big trouble and needed to talk to her.

Penkert told her that they had broken into Ms Kiely’s flat and the woman was dead.

"I asked him had he killed her and he said , no, that Brian had," she added.

"He said that Brian was either on top of her or attacking her and that he had gone downstairs and made an anonymous phone call to the guards," she said.

Ms O’ Boyle said that Penkert told her that they had gone into the flat to get phone chargers and "things like that".

"I asked him if he had killed her and he said no. He said he did not go near her.’’

The jury of six men and six women were sent home until Thursday to allow legal argument to continue in their absence.