Court disputes murder accused's evidence

A car key given to gardaí by a Waterford man on trial for the murder of his wife was not a spare as he had claimed, a Central Criminal Court jury has heard.

Bus driver, Mr O’Brien (aged 41) with an address in Ballinakill Downs, Co Waterford denies murdering Meg Walsh (aged 35) on a date between October 1, 2006 and October 15, 2006.

Mr Robert Ashworth, an expert locksmith, told Mr Dominic McGinn BL, prosecuting, that the key Mr O’Brien gave gardaí as the spare key of Meg’s Mitsubishi Charisma had been used more often and more recently than a second key also found at the house.

In interviews with the gardaí, Mr O’Brien said that Meg’s car had only two keys “as far as he knew” and the key, with a remote control fob, that he had provided was the spare key.

“It was in the pint jug in the press over the work top. That’s where we keep the spare keys for the car.”

He agreed that whoever had abandoned Meg’s car in the carpark of the Uluru pub had her keys.

The jury have already seen CCTV footage which the prosecution said shows the car being locked with a remote control fob. The indicator lights can be seen flashing twice.

Mr Ashworth told Mr McGinn that, in his estimation, the fobbed key had 45,000 miles of use, going from the car’s 60,000 total mileage. He showed the jury photographs which showed that the blade of the key was clean, indicating more recent use.

A second key, found on a telephone table during a garda search of the house, was dirtier, indicating it had not been used for at least three months.

Mr Ashworth said that this key would have only had around 15,000 miles of usage, suggesting that the fobbed key was definitely the main car key.

It is the State’s case that whoever used the fobbed key to lock the car had murdered Ms Walsh.

Mr Ashworth told defence counsel Mr Paddy McCarthy SC the mileage for the keys was guess work and agreed that he could have been wrong.

The jury also heard from Mr Michael Whelan, fleet manager for Hertz Rent-A-Car, who told Mr McGinn that the Mitsubishi Charisma had been a rental car before Ms Walsh purchased it in 2002.

When the car was sold to her it had 34,800 miles on the clock.

The jury heard that when the car was used as a rental car only the plain key was provided. The fobbed key was kept in storage by the garage.

Mr Ashworth agreed with Mr McCarthy that this would mean his mileage figures could be wrong.

Various members of staff from Bolands Garage, which had owned the car while it was a rental model and sold it on to Ms Walsh, told the court that no extra key had been ordered through the garage.

Mr Noel Bailey, from Mitsubishi Motors Ireland, told Mr McGinn that Mitsubishi cars were issued with two keys and one remote control fob.

Extra keys could be ordered but needed to be electronically married to the car and the original keys remarried, otherwise the original keys would cease to work.

Anyone wanting an extra key would need to provide identification and proof of ownership of the car.

Mr Ashworth said that locksmiths wanting to clone a spare key for the Mitsubishi would have to get a specialist piece of equipment to electronically marry the keys to the car.

He said it had taken him two months and many security checks to get such equipment and this was common practice “otherwise you would have every thief in the country ringing up and buying one.”

The jury also heard from Inspector John Hunt who told Mr McCarthy that he had not embarked on an “emotional blitz on the jury” in his primary evidence today.

In relation to CCTV footage, which the State says shows Mr O’Brien standing not far from the spot his wife’s body would be pulled out of the River Suir two weeks later at the time he had told gardaí he was having his last conversation with her at home, Ins. Hunt agreed that there was no evidence that Mr O’Brien’s car had been on the Quay after 5.32pm on Sunday October 1.

Mr O’Brien told gardaí that he had spent that afternoon in Tramore reading the Sunday papers.

He said he had driven straight home and talked to Meg at around 5pm.

Ins. Hunt told Mr McCarthy that mobile phone evidence would show Mr O’Brien in the area where Meg’s car was abandoned at around the time it was abandoned.

He said he was not simply sticking to a theory. “It’s not a thesis that I am doing. These are pieces of evidence.”

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Barry White and the jury of seven men and five women.