Defendant said he had remorse, detective tells court

A 24-year-old Cork man accused of murder allegedly told detectives he didn’t seem to show remorse for the death of a middle-aged woman, a jury at the Central Criminal court was told today.

When asked by detectives if he had any remorse for his actions, Mr Brian Walsh allegedly said "yeah, but I don’t seem to show it at times".

Detectives then asked him if he was "fully aware" of what he had done and asked him to tell them what he had done in his own words. Mr Walsh allegedly replied that he had "murdered someone".

He told them he was "feeling a bit depressed at the moment but I should not be the one feeling depressed – I’m not the one who’s lost someone," according to Detective Sergeant Joe Moore.

Det Sgt Moore was testifying in the trial of Mr Brian Walsh, aged 24, and Mr Thomas Penkert, aged 20, for the murder of Ms Nora Kiely, aged 46, at her flat in Leitrim St., Cork city on July 15 2002.

They have both pleaded not guilty to the murder. They have however, pleaded guilty to the theft of less than €20 in cash and two items of jewellery from Ms Kiely on that date.

Det. Sgt Moore told the court that Mr Walsh told him he "pulled the flex wire around her neck and pulled it for a few minutes".

"She got sick and I stopped. Tom was still sitting on her back. I had taken the wire from her, Tom squeezed her neck, with his hands I think," Mr Walsh allegedly told him during questioning.

When detectives put it to Mr Walsh that he must have known pulling a flex wire around her neck was killing her, he allegedly replied "Yeah, that’s why I stopped after about five minutes".

Ms Kiely was found lying naked from the waist down by gardaí on July 15 2002.

Dr Marie Cassidy concluded she died from "forced compression" on her neck. She said marks on her body were "highly suggestive" of an attempted sexual assault.

In his statement Mr Walsh denied there was any sexual assault on Ms Kiely: "No, not in any way at all".

He also denied he took jewellery off her body but he accepted he took "something like €20 from her purse", Det. Sgt. Moore told the court.

It emerged during evidence that Mr Walsh had met Mr Penkert only about "five months" prior to the incident in July 2002.

Mr Walsh was of no fixed abode and had moved into Mr Penkert’s flat on Leitrim St a week before Ms Kiely’s death.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Diarmuid O’Donovan and a jury of six men and six women.