Accused placed near home on morning of murder

A CAR matching the description of murder accused Joe O’Reilly’s Fiat Marea was captured by CCTV footage near the O’Reilly home on the morning of the murder of his wife Rachel, a jury in the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.

On the 16th day of the trial of O’Reilly, aged 35, of Lambay View, Baldarragh, Naul, Co Dublin — who has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife on October 4, 2004 — Det Gda Sean Fitzpatrick told prosecuting counsel Dominic McGinn BL that he spent “weeks” viewing 119 separate pieces of CCTV footage from around the city and north Co Dublin.

He said he did this to see whether O’Reilly or a car matching the description of his navy Fiat Marea estate could be seen at various places during the day of the murder.

He said a camera placed at the entrance to Murphy’s Quarry, down the road from the O’Reilly home, primarily covered the site entrance but also showed some of the public road, where vehicles could be seen travelling past. The O’Reilly home was not viewable from the footage but he said it was some distance behind the camera.

When he looked at the footage from this camera, he saw what he believed to be Rachel O’Reilly’s Renault Scenic car heading south and going away from the house at 9.03am.

The next relevant car was at 9.10am when he saw what he believed to be a navy estate car heading towards the O’Reilly house.

At 9.41am he again saw the car he believed to be Rachel O’Reilly’s pass the quarry in the direction of the house.

A total of 18 minutes later at 9.59am he said: “I observed what I believed to be a navy-coloured estate car pass by the quarry heading south going away from the O’Reilly house.”

Seven minutes later, at 10.07am a car matching that description was seen on different CCTV footage at Blake’s corner, travelling south. The next time he saw a car matching that description from footage at the Murphy’s Quarry was later that day, at 2.13pm going in the direction of the house.

Referring to O’Reilly’s movements earlier that morning, he said CCTV footage at Viacom, the outdoor advertising company where he worked in Bluebell Industrial Estate, showed O’Reilly first arrive in work at 7.37am and leave again at 8.07am. He said Mr Quearney left at 8.51am.

Det Gda Fitzpatrick said he also studied CCTV footage from between 8.30am and 11.30am in the Phibsboro and Broadstone bus garages and at no stage did he see O’Reilly.

The court has already heard evidence that this is where O’Reilly said he was at this time.

Det Gda Fitzpatrick said he did see Derek Quearney arrive in the reception area at 9.26am. However, he said other footage shows a bus coming from the Finglas direction entering the garage and stopping to let out two cars, one dark and one light, as they leave.

He agreed with Mr McGinn that this footage was in keeping with evidence already given by a bus driver who said he let two cars out of the depot, one dark and one light, as he was returning from his route.

Referring to the route they believed O’Reilly to have taken from work to the bus garage, he said he did not observe a car matching that of O’Reilly’s going towards the garages in CCTV footage from Áras Ui Dhálaigh on Church St in the city centre.

However, Det Gda Fitzpatrick said he saw a silver Citroen Xsara matching the description of Mr Quearney’s going in the direction of the garage at 9.19:38.

From the same CCTV camera at 11.10am he saw a car he believed to be Mr Quearney’s travel away from the bus garage towards the quays and that “directly behind” this car was what he believed was a Fiat Marea.

Det Gda Fitzpatrick said he believed the first car to be that of Mr Quearney’s because there was a front left hubcap missing and he knew Mr Quearney’s car to be missing the same one.

He said he also studied CCTV footage from outside the Europrice carpark at Blake’s Corner, just north of Balheary.

The background of this footage shows “part of” a road travelling in a north/south direction. At 8.55am, he said he observed what he believed to be a “navy-coloured estate car travelling north”.

More than an hour later, he saw “a navy-coloured estate car similar to a Fiat Marea travelling south”. Footage from the Viacom CCTV camera at 11.48am showed O’Reilly arrive back in work.

Another camera placed at the entrance to Bluebell Industrial Estate, outside the Carlin Kinsella company shows a navy Fiat Marea leaving at 8.12am and entering at 11.50am.

He said Mr Quearney’s Citroen Xsara was seen re-entering the estate ‘two minutes later’ at 11.52am.

The jury were then shown the CCTV footage of all the relevant sightings.

Det Gda O’Sullivan was also asked about the CCTV footage in relation to mobile phone analysis. He agreed with Mr McGinn that footage showed O’Reilly’s car leaving the industrial estate at 8.12am and that when a call was made from Nikki Pelley’s phone to O’Reilly at 8.12am the signal from his phone was picked up by a mast in Chapelizod, just north of the industrial estate.

Referring to footage that showed a car matching the description of O’Reilly’s passing Blake’s Cross at 8.55am, he agreed that a mast at Richardstown, just north of Blake’s cross, picked up O’Reilly’s mobile phone signal when he received a call from Mr Quearney’s phone at 8.56am.

He also agreed that when a text was sent from O’Reilly’s phone to Rachel O’Reilly at 10.07am a mast in Richardstown picked up the signal from his phone.

He said by the time O’Reilly received a text delivery acknowledgement, his phone was routed through a transmitter farther south at Balheary, pointing north.

He then agreed with Mr McGinn that the court had already heard evidence showing the ‘borderline’ between the Richardstown and Balheary masts is the area around Blake’s Cross.

Referring to footage which showed the cars pulling out of the bus depot at 11.10am, he agreed that when O’Reilly’s phone received a call from Maiden Outdoor, Nikki Pelley’s workplace, the call was routed through the Dominic St mast, near the Broadstone bus garage.

Prosecution evidence is expected to finish today before Mr Justice Barry White.