The jury in the trial of two men accused of beating another man to death have viewed a Snapchat video allegedly showing the victim lying bloodied on the ground.
Viorel Doroscan (23), of Bay Meadows Square, Hollystown, West Dublin, and Otniel Richardo Clejan (24), with a former address at Verdemont in Blanchardstown in Dublin 15, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mahamud Ilyas on December 9th, 2022.
Mr Ilyas was allegedly beaten to death after a row over a stolen bag of cannabis, sustaining depressed fractures to his head which a State pathologist said were “typical of hammer blows”.
At the Central Criminal Court on Monday, trial judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt briefed the jury before they watched the Snapchat video, saying that they must approach the evidence in an “unemotional and dispassionate” manner, despite its potentially upsetting contents.
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The video showed a man lying on the ground, face up, with visible blood on his face and a large blood stain on the wall behind him.
The short clip showed the video-taker moving in closer to the head of the man on the floor and the shoe of the video-taker can be seen briefly.
Detective Inspector Liam Donoghue, of Blanchardstown Garda Station, told prosecution counsel Eoin Lawlor SC that he contacted Snapchat’s office in the United States to request they preserve data in regards to Mr Doroscan, Mr Ilyas and Mr Clejan. He said he believed Mr Doroscan had possession of a video relating to Mr Ilyas.
The witness proceeded to show a comparison of the shoe in the video and CCTV footage of Mr Doroscan on the same day, wearing shoes that Det Insp Donoghue said visually matched those in the video.
He said the video, which was posted as a ‘Memory’ on the Snapchat app, was confirmed to have come from Mr Doroscan’s account and metadata provided by Snapchat said that the clip had been taken on 2.51pm on December 9th, 2022 in the area of the Verdemont estate in Blanchardstown.
Assistant State pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster previously told Mr Lawlor SC that the cause of Mr Ilyas’ death was blunt force trauma to the head.
She said the application of force to the head was from a blunt object such as a hammer, blows, and kicks.
Last week, witness Abdi-Aziz Mohamed testified that he met Mr Doroscan on December 9th, 2022, where the accused allegedly told him that “we hit Mo with a hammer” - meaning the deceased Mahamud Ilyas - during a fight before leaving him “on a field”.
At the opening of the trial, Mr Lawlor said the prosecution intended to show that Mr Doroscan and Mr Clejan were involved in the sale and supply of drugs.
On December 8th, 2022, counsel said, a house at Verdemont in Blanchardstown, Dublin 15 was being used to store cannabis. That evening Mr Ilyas called to the house and was seen leaving carrying a shopping bag containing cannabis.
Mr Lawlor said Mr Ilyas “wasn’t supposed to” take the cannabis and then tried to sell it to others. The following afternoon, Mr Lawlor said Mr Doroscan made contact with Mr Ilyas and told him he wished to speak to him urgently. Mr Ilyas went into the house at Verdemont at about 2.41pm.
Witness Vlady Ndosimau previously told the trial that he was at the bottom of the steps when Mr Ilyas went inside but ran up and barged through the door after hearing a loud banging noise.
Inside, he said he witnessed Mr Ilyas sitting on the floor, with his back against a radiator, looking as if he had been beaten and with blood coming from his nose.
His hands and feet were tied using a rope or a zip tie and he was moaning while Mr Clejan and Mr Doroscan shouted at him, the witness said.Mr Doroscan, holding a fruit knife, stood between Mr Ilyas’s legs while Mr Clejan stood close to his head with a hammer in his hand, the witness said.
Mr Doroscan, he said, kept on shouting “where is the stuff” while Mr Ilyas responded by “groaning and groaning”.
The trial continues on Tuesday before Mr Justice Tony Hunt and a jury of five women and seven men.
Co-accused Lorenzo Cantaragiu (21), of Castlegrange Park, Blanchardstown, faces various charges of impeding the prosecution or apprehension of Mr Clejan and Mr Doroscan, by committing various acts while knowing or believing them to have committed the offence of causing serious harm to Mr Ilyas. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
