Couple killed and hid body, court hears

A man and woman who were camping in a field in Thurles last year stabbed a Latvian man during a drunken row before concealing his body and fleeing to England, the Central Criminal Court heard today.

Kevin Keohane (aged 33), of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty the murder of Renars Tuleiko (aged 32) at Parnell Park, Thurles, Co Tipperary on a date unknown between April 13 and 15, 2007.

Victoria Moverley (aged 32), also of no fixed abode, has pleaded not guilty to assisting in the concealing of the body of the deceased and the burning of his clothes on a date unknown between April 13 and 15, 2007 at Parnell Park, Thurles, Co Tipperary.

She also pleaded not guilty to the further charge of assaulting Mr Tuleiko, causing him serious harm.

Opening the trial, prosecution counsel Peter Marinan SC told the jury that both accused were born in England and he described Ms Moverley as a “New Age Traveller”.

He said that they had been staying in a tent in Parnell Park, Thurles for two weeks before the alleged murder and that they had “previously met the deceased”.

“They had gone drinking with him in their tent and by the river. They weren’t complete strangers,” he said.

Mr Tuleiko was married with two young children. He arrived in Ireland in May 2005 and was working as a mechanic.

Mr Marinan said that Mr Keohane and Ms Moverley had collected money from the welfare office in Nenagh and returned to Thurles by 7pm on the night of the alleged murder.

“Both had been drinking and, while in town, met Mario Marko, a man they knew, and invited him back to the tent,” Mr Marinan said.

“A fire was lit and at some stage the deceased joined them. There was no suggestion of any animosity between the parties involved.

“Mario Marko left... A row broke out sometime later. Over what, it is not clear.

“There was a physical fight between the deceased and Mr Keohane, which Victoria Moverley became involved in.

“Ms Moverley stabbed the deceased in the back and Mr Keohane stabbed him in the neck.

“Mr Keohane then removed the deceased’s small finger. Why he did this remains entirely uncertain.

“They killed him, then dragged his body some distance away and made an effort to conceal it. They burned his clothes and burned anything that might incriminate them... and fled to Holyhead and England.”

Mr Marinan told the jury that both accused were arrested in England the following November and “claimed they were acting in self-defence”.

Mr Marinan said that “this is a case where... self-defence does not arise”.

“Reasonable force can’t possibly emerge from the known facts.”

He said that the known facts are the “physical evidence left behind”.

Mr Tuleiko was found with “43 significant and serious injuries to his body and a fatal stab wound to the neck”.

“Mr Keohane left with a bruised knuckle, which he attributed to striking the deceased. Ms Moverley left apparently unscathed.”

Mr Marinan said that the prosecution’s case will “focus on the words of both accused while in garda custody and the explanations they gave as to why Mr Tuleiko met his death”.

He said that it “appears to have been a motiveless killing”.

Brothers Christy and Paddy Jordan told the court that they found the body while walking their dogs on the evening of April 15, 2007.

Christy Jordan told the court that a tent which they had previously noticed, and which had been there for about two weeks, was no longer there.

They also noticed the remains of a fire.

Christy told the jury that he saw the body lying face-down in a corner of the field, partially concealed with grass.

The trial continues tomorrow in front of Mr Justice Barry White at the Central Criminal Court.