Murder accused pretended to be drunk, garda tells court

The man accused of killing his wife ten years exaggerated his level of drunkenness when gardaí called to his home, the Central Criminal Court heard.

John Diver, Kilnamanagh Road, Walkinstown, Dublin denies murdering his wife Geraldine (42) at Robinhood Road, Clondalkin on December 2, 1996.

Ms Diver was found, with a tie around her neck, in the front seat of her car outside Buckley’s builder’s providers around 10.40pm on December 2.

On the fifth day of the trial in the Central Criminal Court on Friday, Inspector Michael Fitzpatrick said that he felt that Diver pretended to be much drunker than he was on the night he went to tell him that his wife’s body was found in the Diver family car.

Initially he thought Diver was drunk, as he could smell drink off him, Diver was unsteady on his feet, and his speech was slurred.

Afterwards he felt that Diver “was not drunk at all".

In reply to prosecution counsel Mr Edward Comyn SC he said he called to the Diver house shortly after 12.15am in the early morning of December 3.

There he was met by the accused, John Diver.

He said he rang the doorbell twice, a light came on, and a man answered the door.

Initially Diver did not want to open the door, but the gardaí eventually entered the house.

Diver was wearing his dressing gown, had his slippers on and his hair combed back

Diver said his car “was in the drive way", and “Geraldine was at work".

On several occasions Diver asked the Inspector, “Who are you?” burst into tears, and went into a rant.

Some of the things he said made no sense.

The gardaí eventually made contact with neighbours and relatives of the Diver family and tried to sober him up by giving him coffee.

Under cross-examination from defence counsel Mr Brendan Grehan SC, the inspector admitted that he made two statements, one in late December, the second in July 1997.

He admitted that he did not include his opinion that Diver was having him on in the first statement.

Inspector Fitzpatrick said he had doubts about the degree of Mr Diver’s drunkenness from a very early stage.

He said that his first statement was one of fact, rather than opinion.

He was subsequently asked to make a second statement, in which he included his opinion that Diver had pretended to be drunker than he was.

The Inspector said he did not know at the time that earlier that day Diver had received a cheque for IR£20,000 as part of his retirement package.

Sergeant Maurice Cunningham, who accompanied Inspector Fitzpatrick to the Diver house, said in response to prosecution counsel Mr Shane Murphy SC, that while Diver might have had drink taken that night his actions were exaggerated.

He had never encountered anything like that behaviour before.

At one stage that night he ensured that Diver got up the stairs and got into the bedroom, as he appeared unsteady on his feet.

When they were in the room Diver said Geraldine “came and went as she pleased", that she “had her boyfriends", and that he loved Geraldine, but “she didn’t love him".

Under cross-examination from Mr Grehan Sgt. Cunningham said that he made two statements in relation to what happened that night.

He said he did not mention in the first statement that he felt that Diver was feigning being drunk, because it was his opinion and not a fact.

However, he included those details when asked to make a second statement several months later.

Mrs Eileen Kenny, a neighbour of the Divers who was asked to come to the house by the gardaí that night, said that when she went into the house that night John Diver was not himself.

He offered her a glass of wine to drink, and said that “he loved his wife and that was it".

Under cross-examination from Mr Grehan she admitted that she had never seen him drunk before.

She did not think that Diver was intoxicated on the night, even though that was in her original statement.

She said that the phrase was included by mistake and she subsequently had it amended.

Ms Marian Joyce, who worked at the Coombe Hospital, said that she was friendly with Geraldine for many years.

She rang the Diver household in early January 1997, to see how they were getting on.

She said that John Diver told her that he had gone out of the house on two occasions on the night of December 2, and that he got soaked because it had been raining.

He also admitted having some wine to drink and that he was worried about paying a visa bill.

Diver also said to her that he had been seen in the back of the car, but added, “that it could have been anyone".

Under cross-examination from Mr Grehan Ms Joyce said that she was aware that Geraldine Diver was seeking a separation, and that she was seeing somebody else, but was not aware of the full details.

The case, being heard by Mr Justice Philip O’Sullivan and a jury of five women and seven men, continues.