The sister of Robin Wilkin has said she feels overwhelmed by the lack of remorse shown by her brother’s “cold, calculating” murderers and by the way they dumped his body over Ireland’s tallest cliffs “as if his life was worthless”.
Alan Vial and Nikita Burns were found guilty of 66-year-old Mr Wilkin’s murder on Thursday and on Friday Mr Justice Paul McDermott sentenced both to the mandatory term of life imprisonment.
Irene McAleer, Mr Wilkin’s sister, sat through the entire trial and delivered a statement on behalf of herself and her surviving siblings, David and Marie.
Mr Wilkin was the eldest sibling, she said, and the rest of the family looked up to him. “Now, as a family, we have been left with nothing but memories of growing up together with Robin, due to the actions of Alan Vial and Nikita Burns,” Ms McAleer said.
‘Callous paedophile’ jailed for rape and sexual abuse of boys he intimidated, coerced and bribed
Nathan McDonnell: The rise and fall of the Kerry businessman and drug trafficker
Garda pleads guilty to impersonating woman online and inciting two men to rape her
Enoch Burke case: move to appoint receiver with power to collect fines from teacher’s salary
She said the “agonising journey” from when a garda called to say they believed Mr Wilkin and been murdered to the end of the trial has been “filled with grief, denial and undoubtedly anger”.
While the convictions have brought “a certain degree of closure”, she added that the family will never come to terms with the brutal nature of Mr Wilkin’s death.
Ms McAleer said she felt she owed it to her brother’s memory to sit through the trial, despite the distress she felt.
“Nothing or no one could have prepared me for the evil and harrowing details I have witnessed. To sit in the same room as those two very cold, calculating individuals has been so difficult. The fact neither of these individuals has shown a grain of remorse has been very overwhelming at times,” Ms McAleer said.
She was sickened, she said, when she heard that Burns had said she hoped the body would not be found and that the victim’s family “wouldn’t bother to come looking for him”. She was further upset when she heard Vial “mocking” her brother, by declaring during one of his garda interviews it was ironic that Mr Wilkin’s had said he wanted to be buried at sea.
Ms McAleer denied that her brother was estranged from his family. “He was, in fact, just travelling his own path and lost regular touch with us, as many siblings do. Mr Wilkin’s callous and unnecessary murder has deprived us all the chance to reconnect now that our own lives are slowing down,” she said.
Ms McAleer also thanked the Gardaí and witnesses who came forward to give evidence at the trial. In particular, she thanked Chris Quinn and Sharon O’Dowd, who told gardaí that Burns had confessed to murdering a man and throwing him off the cliffs at Sliabh Liag.
Without them, she said, Burns and Vial would never have been caught and prosecuted.
Following Ms McAleer’s statement, Mr Justice Paul McDermott offered his condolences to the family before imposing the mandatory life sentences in respect of each defendant. Vial’s sentence was backdated to July 14th, 2023, when he first went into custody. Burns’ sentence was backdated to August 29th, 2023.
Vial (39), from Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, and Burns (23), of Carrick, Co Donegal, had pleaded not guilty to Mr Wilkin’s murder in Donegal on June 25th, 2023. A jury found each guilty of murder by majority verdicts (10 to two) on Thursday following a two-month trial.
The trial heard that Mr Wilkin suffered severe head injuries after being struck multiple times with a rock at an area known as Roshin, near Killybegs. His killers then drove to Sliabh Liag where they put him over the cliffs and disposed of his neck chain, watch and other personal items.
Vial and Burns blamed one another for the fatal assault but the jury accepted the prosecution case that they had, in fact, been involved in a joint enterprise to cause serious injury to Mr Wilkin and are both guilty of murder.
