Evidence concludes in O'Reilly case

The judge in the murder trial of Joe O'Reilly has told the jury that the evidence in the case has concluded.

Mr O'Reilly (35) of Lambay View, Baldarragh, Naul, Co Dublin has pleaded not guilty to murdering his 30 year-old wife and mother of two, Rachel O'Reilly, at the family home on October 4th 2004.

Mr Justice Barry White was speaking at the end of the defence evidence today.

He told them they still had to hear three speeches - from the prosecution, the defence and then his own charge.

He said that during his own charge, he was obliged to summarise the evidence and give them directions of law.

"Rest assured I am not going to go through every word of every witness," he said.

"I will perhaps divide the evidence into five or seven separate parts and then I have a duty to put before you the defence and prosecution case with impartiality," he added.

He told them it was likely they would be sent out to consider their verdict on Friday lunchtime.

He explained: "Once you retire to consider your verdict, all 11 of you must stick together."

He also said that if they had not reached their verdict by 7pm on Friday, they would have to stay in a hotel. He asked any of them who may have a problem doing that to let him know beforehand.

Today's evidence

Earlier, the court heard evidence from another witness, Mr Joseph O'Shea, who said he saw Mr O'Reilly outside the bus depot on a rainy day in October.

Mr O'Shea told defence counsel Mr Patrick Gageby SC that he was a couple of years ahead of Joe O'Reilly in secondary school.

Mr O'Shea, a glazer from Coolock, said that since he had left school, he had seen Mr O'Reilly on three occasions.

He said the first time he saw him was 20 years ago when he bumped into him in Arnotts and that he didn't see him again until the day in question.

He said the next time he saw him was "a good few months after the murder" when he met him in McDonald's on the Malahide Road.

Mr O'Shea, who works for Dublin City Council, said that the depot he goes to every day is on Coleraine St., "about 100 yards" from the Broadstone Phibsboro bus garages.

Asked how he can help the jury, he said: "That I seen Joe O'Reilly at Broadstone depot one morning."

Mr Gageby then asked him to explain what his worksheet for the week ending October 10 meant.

He said: "It says I would have been at Coleraine St. I had a good lot of other jobs, not necessarily on that day."

Asked: "What do you remember Mr O'Reilly doing?" he said: "He was standing at the poster at the top of the corner at Broadstone."

He explained he was travelling in a van which his father was driving towards Phibsboro when he saw Mr O'Reilly at the corner "looking up at the poster".

Mr O'Shea said he had heard of the murder in 2004 but at that time, didn't know who it was that was murdered.

Asked when he first heard Mr O'Reilly was claiming an alibi had seen him in the Broadstone depot on the morning of the murder, he said: "I read it in the Herald on Monday."

He said as a result of that: "A light came on in my head. I realised I'd seen Mr O'Reilly in Broadstone."

He said that he then called his wife to tell her but that he didn't do anything about it because they had friends coming over from America on the Tuesday. However, he said that then he told the "lads in work" about it and that he decided to tell gardaí.

Asked: "Could you help us with the time at all?" he said: "Around 11-ish."

Mr Vaughan Buckley began his cross-examination by asking him whether he saw Mr O'Reilly at 11-ish.

Mr O'Shea replied: "between 10 and 11-ish, yes."

But when Mr Vaughan Buckley then said: "You didn't say that, you said 11," he replied: "ok-11ish."

He then agreed he the statement he made on Wednesday July 11, said: "I came here today because I saw Joe O'Reilly was being tried for the murder of his wife. I saw him in Broadstone. I remember seeing him outside the entrance to Broadstone bus depot looking at the large sign at the entrance to the depot. I can't remember what day it was or the date, however I do know it was lashing rain fairly heavily."

Mr O'Shea said that once he saw Mr O'Reilly, he told his father, who was with him in the van.

However, he said that when he asked his father whether he remembered this, his father told him he couldn't recall the incident.

He added: "I saw Joe O'Reilly....I have no way of knowing the time but I know it was morning time. I can't remember the day of the week. All I know is that I saw Joe O'Reilly at the entrance to the Broadstone bus garage."

Asked why he handed in three worksheets to gardaí from the weeks ending October 10, October 3 and September 26, he said he did so because he wanted to be sure the day he thought he saw Mr O'Reilly was the same Monday he was turning out of the depot.

He said he goes to work in the depot every morning for about 8.30am and that where he goes from there depends on where he's needed.

Asked: "who asked you to go to the garda station?" he said: "Nobody, I went of my own free will."

Mr Vaughan Buckley then asked him whether he had discussed the murder with Mr O'Reilly when he bumped into him in McDonalds's. He replied: "No. I said: 'How are you doing?'."

He also insisted he only met Mr O'Reilly "three times in 20 years".

Mr Vaughan Buckley then returned to the subject of his statement, where he told gardaí it was "lashing rain".

He told Mr O'Shea that the court had already heard evidence from an expert in the Met Office who said the day of the murder was "dry and sunny" in Dublin.

Mr O'Shea again insisted: "I know I seen him in Broadstone." He added: "I never seen him there before."