Murder accused tried to burn remains, court hears

A 40-year-old Donegal man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his estranged wife today at the Central Criminal Court.

Mr Gary McCrea of Ballybulgin, Laghy, Co Donegal denies the murder of mother-of-four Dolores McCrea (aged 39) of Ballintra, Co Donegal, on a date unknown between January 20 and January 22, 2004.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Mr Paul O’Higgins SC told the jury of nine men and three women that on the day mother-of-four Mrs Dolores McCrea disappeared, she left her home to play a darts match in Donegal.

The court heard that Mrs McCrea had four children with her husband Gary McCrea and their marriage, near the end, had not been a happy one. In April 2003, Mrs McCrea left the family home with her children, Mr O’Higgins SC said.

On the day Mrs McCrea disappeared, she left her home in the village of Ballintra to play a game of darts in Donegal town, driving her red 1997 Peugot 306, the court heard.

The next day, Mr O’Higgins said, she was going to sell this car to her husband for €1,000. An arrangement had been made, the prosecutor said, that Mrs McCrea would call to Mr McCrea to collect the money.

At 7.20pm, Mrs McCrea left her apartment saying goodbye to her father, the court heard. Mr O’Higgins said the last person to see her alive was Mr Martin McGrath who left when Dolores McCrea arrived at the accused’s home. "She didn’t turn up at the darts match", Mr O’Higgins told the jury.

The following morning, the court heard, Mrs McCrea’s children were concerned that she wasn’t at home.

"There was growing concern among her children, her sisters and her parents," Mr O’Higgins told the jury.

Her daughter, the court heard, had texted Mrs McCrea the previous night but her mother’s phone seemed not to be operating.

When gardaí arrived at the accused’s home, Mr O’Higgins said he alleged Dolores McCrea came for the money for her Peugot and was collected in a silver car.

The next day, January 22, 2004, the gardaí began looking around the McCrea farm. Behind some sheds, they found smouldering remains of a fire, which was contained inside an old caravan frame, the jury heard.

"As gardaí poked around that fire, one garda found a bone," Mr O’Higgins said. "More pieces of bone started to emerge from the smouldering fire."

A local doctor was called, who believed the bone to be that of a human, Mr O’Higgins said.

The jury heard that amongst the skeletal remains discovered at Mr McCrea’s farm was a neck bone which it was "not possible to say whether this was broken before or after".

The prosecutor told the jury that on the previous Friday Mr McCrea had collected 20 quad tyres and brought them back to his farm to allegedly be used to burn bushes. On the day Mrs McCrea disappeared, Mr O’Higgins told the jury the accused man went to a local garage and bought two twenty two and a half litre drums of diesel.

"When gardaí visited the house a day and a half later, there was only seven and a half litres left", he added.

At 8.10pm on the same day Mrs McCrea disappeared, "a neighbour noticed a redness in the sky in the Ballybulgin area" the court heard.

"By 8.40pm, a massive fire was burning at the McCrea premises," Mr O’Higgins said. "This fire was still burning one a half days later", he added.

The bones discovered in the fire was so badly burned that the DNA on the bones had been destroyed, the court heard. The ordinary way of identifying the body was not open to investigators.

Various sections of a jaw and teeth were discovered, the court heard. When these bones were reviewed, it showed a "high degree of consistency" with the dental records of Dolores McCrea.

"This is a case based on circumstantial evidence," Mr O’Higgins SC told the jury.

The prosecuting barrister added that after the jury had heard the evidence in the trial, that they will have "no reasonable doubt that Gary McCrea killed Dolores McCrea and then disposed of her body".

The trial continues today before Mr Justice Michael Hanna.