Man goes on trial for Kiltimagh stabbing death

The trial opened today of a 24-year-old man accused of murdering his sister’s partner over a year ago in Co Mayo.

Fintan McKenna (aged 24), of Woodlands, Balla, Castleba has pleaded not guilty to murdering Francis ‘Frankie’ Heneghan (aged 24) in Kiltimagh, Co. Mayo on August 12, 2009.

It is alleged Mr McKenna stabbed the deceased 11 times because he had moved in with another women days before the killing.

Opening the case, Ms Pauline Walley SC, prosecuting, told the jury the deceased and the sister of the accused, Grace McKenna, had been in a relationship for a number of years and had two small children.

The jury were told they would hear evidence that two days before the killing the deceased moved out of the home he shared with Mrs McKenna to stay with another women.

The court heard that on the night in question the accused was drinking with a number of young people in a derelict building near Main Street Rear in Kiltimagh known as ‘’the drinking shed’’.

One of the young men in the group, Sean Carmichael, got injured and was carried by some of his companions up to Main Street to wait for an ambulance.

Ms Walley SC told the jury the significance of this was it explained why the gardaí were ’’unusually’’ present at the scene as the events were unfolding and the investigation ‘’swung into action immediately’’.

As Mr McKenna was walking back to ''the drinking shed'' he met the deceased who challenged him to a fight but Mr McKenna refused.

Following the encounter Mr McKenna asked his friend, Kevin Carmichael, for the knife he knew he carried.

It is alleged that some time after midnight Mr McKenna was walking up a laneway when he came upon Mr Heneghan; an altercation ensued during which Mr McKenna produced the knife and stabbed the deceased eleven times.

The jury were told of the 11 stab wounds suffered by the deceased it was a 55cm stab wound to the left ventricle of the heart which proved fatal.

Gardaí, who were present in the area, came upon Mr Heneghan slumped over and bleeding profusely; he was pronounced dead by a local doctor at 12:45am.

A number of the young people found at the scene were arrested for public order offences including the accused.

Ms Walley SC said the jury would hear what Mr McKenna told gardaí when he was questioned and regarded as a witness not a suspect.

The following day Mr McKenna was arrested again in connection with Mr Heneghan’s death and interviewed several times.

Ms Walley SC said; ‘The thrust of what Fintan McKenna told gardaí was that he stabbed Francis Heneghan twice and had got the knife from Kevin because he was afraid of him.’

The jury were told they would hear evidence that Mr McKenna and Mr Heneghan did not like each other because Mr McKenna was aware of Sinead McGintey; the woman the deceased was staying with at the time of his death.

The case which is expected to last two weeks continues tomorrow before Mr Justice John Edwards and a jury of eight women and four men.