Couple told gardaí 'I think we found a body' after discovering suitcase in canal, court hears
A murder trial has heard a couple told gardaí "I think we found a body" after they discovered a suitcase in the canal in Co Kildare.
51-year-old Paul Wells Senior of Barnamore Park in Finglas in Dublin denies murdering Kenneth O’Brien in January 2016.
The court heard Brian O’Dwyer and his partner Mary Costigan were going for a walk along the canal in Ardclough Co Kildare when they spotted a suitcase in the water.
They thought it was unusual as the suitcase seemed relatively new and did not look like rubbish.
They managed to retrieve it and looked inside and saw what appeared to be a plastic bag with red liquid in it and some human skin.
Mr O’Dwyer rang gardaí and said "I think we found a body".
The court already heard it was identified as the torso of 33-year-old Kenneth O’Brien through DNA testing and further body parts were subsequently found in Sallins including his skull.
It is the prosecution’s case that Paul Wells Senior killed Kenneth O’Brien, dismembered his body and dispersed it in Co Kildare.
He denies murder and told gardaí he had struggled with Mr O’Brien over a gun and then panicked after the shooting.
He claims Mr O’Brien had asked him to murder his long-term partner but he refused to do so.
