Jesus told me I'd be fine, said murder accused

A murder trial has heard that the accused thought he had done the world a service by killing the devil and couldn't understand why he was being detained on suspicion of murder.

The Central Criminal Court was hearing the evidence of a consultant psychiatrist, who examined the accused man after his arrest in Co Clare two years ago.

Joe Heffernan (aged 33) of Cappagh Beg, Barefield, Ennis has pleaded not guilty to murdering Eoin Ryan at that address on June 7, 2011.

The 21-year-old student's body was found that morning in a barrel on Mr Heffernan's farm.

Dr John O'Mahony of Ennis General Hospital testified today that he examined the accused man later that morning at Ennis Garda Station.

He said Mr Heffernan was in a dishevelled stated and couldn't understand why he was being detained.

"The gardaí tell me I murdered someone, but I killed the devil," the accused told him, he said.

He told Dr O'Mahony that he'd met a man in a hotel and thought he was an ordinary man like himself.

"Then the devil's face came out of him," he told the psychiatrist. "His eyes were raging."

He told Dr O'Mahony that he had put him in a barrel after killing him.

"I'm a righteous man. I'm a good man," he said. "His legion of followers won't take me - Jesus told me I'd be fine."

The psychiatrist said his mood could best be described as delusional.

He said the accused really believed that he'd killed the devil and also that he was in contact with a saint, Jesus Christ and his dead father, who he thought had asked him to bring him back to life.

He said that Jesus had advised him to call the gardaí that morning to tell them he had killed the devil.

Dr O'Mahony said the accused had also told him that a small demon had come in under the door in the garda station that morning.

"He believed demons that remained were coming after him," added the doctor.

"My clinical impression is that Mr Heffernan was suffering from a psychotic disorder characterised by visual and auditory hallucinosis, delusional thoughts, impaired concentration, impaired judgment and a lack of insight and would require treatment," he said.

He added that his psychosis was probably of the schizophrenic type.

Under cross examination by Patrick Gageby SC, defending, the witness said that Mr Heffernan was perplexed, anxious and angry.

"He believed he'd killed the devil and couldn't understand why he'd been charged with killing a man. He believed he'd done the world a service," said Dr O'Mahony.

"He believed he was being detained for doing something good. He believed the man he killed was a devil, not a man," he continued.

He also described as 'abnormal' Mr Heffernan's belief that he could bring his father back to life.

Dr O'Mahony then agreed with Bernard Condon SC, prosecuting, that he was not a forensic psychiatrist.

He said that he had not heard the 999 call in which the first thing the accused said was: "This is Joe Heffernan. I'm after killing a man."

He said he did not know that the accused had told the gardaí: "I'm not going to prison."

The trial continues before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of seven women and five men.