Jury hears murder accused directed gardaí to blood-stained clothing

A Dublin man directed gardaí to the location of a buried blood-stained sweatshirt which contains DNA matching that of the man he is accused of murdering, a jury has heard.

Wayne Kinsella (aged 40) with an address at The Plaza, Tyrrelstown, but who is originally from Finglas, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Adel Essalhi (aged 31) in the fields behind the Plaza in Tyrrelstown, Blanchardstown, on January 6, 2011.

In his opening address to the jury, Mr Alex Owens SC, for the State, said it was the prosecution case that Wayne Kinsella and a relative lured Mr Essalhi to a field behind the Plaza apartments and murdered him after they “got it in to their heads” he was involved in the death of Wayne Kinsella’s brother Lee.

The court heard yesterday that the accused man, having been asked by gardaí for information about missing man Jason O’Dea, gave them directions to where he said the body of a missing person had been dumped in a ditch in Tyrrelstown.

Giving evidence on the second morning of the trial, Sergeant Ann Ellis said that on January 13, 2011 she walked “arm in arm” with the accused man up to a balcony on the Plaza apartment complex after he told her: “Walk with me and I’ll point to where the body is.”

Sgt Ellis agreed with Mr Owens that Wayne Kinsella then pointed out a distant cornfield and said: “The body is to the left of there in a woody area, a wood; I think it’s a bit burned, that’s what I was told anyway.”

She said that she later rejoined the search of the cornfield and at 3:15pm located what appeared to be the body of a man submerged in a drain, while a knife sheath was also found in the immediate area of the body.

Sergeant James Cussen told Mr Owens that, during a search of the cornfield behind Tyrrelstown Plaza on January 15, 2011, he used a slash-hook to dig under a group of rocks pointed out by the accused man Wayne Kinsella.

From underneath the rocks, Sgt Cussen said he dug up a white top which appeared to be stained and burned. Sgt Cussan told the court that the accused man was asked about the clothing and told gardaí that it belonged to the deceased.

Sgt Cussen told the court that his colleague Garda Stephen Foley also uncovered a large metal knife with a wooden handle approximately 100 yards from where the body was found in the drain.

He agreed with counsel for the defence, Mr Michael O’Higgins SC, that without the assistance of the accused man gardaí would have not found the top.

Forensic scientist Dr Hilary Clarke told Mr Owens that on January 17, 2011 she examined the blood staining on the orignally white hooded sweatshirt found by gardaí under the rocks.

She said that a DNA profile obtained from the front part of the sweatshirt matched the DNA profile of Adel Essalhi. Dr Clarke estimated the chances of a person unrelated to the deceased man having the same DNA profile were less than one in a thousand million.

Dr Clarke told the court that there were numerous cuts and holes in the sweatshirt, including stab cuts to the front, and said the damage was not due to normal wear and tear.

She said she examined other clothing taken during a post mortem examination of the body found in the ditch, including a navy t-shirt and two pairs of tracksuit bottoms.

Dr Clarke said that she was unable to generate DNA profiles from the apparently diluted bloodstains on the navy t-shirt and grey tracksuit bottoms, while both items appeared to have been stained with bleach.

She said could find no blood on the inside or outside of the knife sheath or on the “very rusty” and soil adhered machete found by gardaí after a search of the cornfield.

The trial continues in front of Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan and a jury of seven women and five men.