The trial of a man charged with murdering his wife has been told of his first responses to gardaí who questioned him about what looked like human bones found in the remains of a fire near his home.
Evidence has also been given about gardaí finding a video in his house which featured the disposal of a body by fire.
Gary McCrea (40) Ballybulgin, Laghy, Co Donegal, denies the murder of his wife, Dolores McCrea (39), of Ballintra, Co Donegal, between January 20th and January 22nd, 2004.
It is alleged Mr McCrea murdered his wife and the mother of his four children and then burned her body in a fire at the rear of the old family home.
In the Central Criminal Court yesterday, Garda Brendan McMonagle told Richard Lyons, prosecuting, that in January 2004, he discovered what he believed to be human bones in a smouldering fire contained in the chassis of an old mobile home at the rear of the McCrea home.
He first saw a piece of bone six inches long with a ball on the end of it in the fire.
Garda McMonagle said he was "shocked and alarmed" by what he discovered.
He then uncovered a second piece of bone, which he believed to be part of a human spinal column. "I thought it was human but I couldn't be sure," he added.
A short while later, Garda McMonagle said Mr McCrea was shown the smouldering fire. He told the court he asked him what he believed the bones were.
"It could be an auld dog or something," Mr McCrea allegedly replied.
"I said, 'Gary, you must know what it is'. He replied, 'I don't but I know what you're thinking'," Garda McMonagle told the court.
The garda then said he asked Mr McCrea what did he believe he was thinking, to which Mr McCrea allegedly said, "You think I put her in the f***ing fire," referring to his wife.
Sgt Morris McWalters told the court that on January 22nd, 2004, Dr Marie Drumgoole was called to the scene at Ballybulgin and it was believed a piece of bone which was discovered from the fire was that of a human shoulder blade.
Det Sgt Shane Henry told the court he initially examined the smouldering fire late in the evening of January 22nd, 2004. Along with the State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, and other technical gardaí, he studied the scene.
"We got down on our hands and knees and carefully removed the bones from the smouldering fire," he said. The fire, he said, "continued to smoulder" and with two powder extinguishers he smothered the remains of the fire.
Det Sgt Henry said corroded parts of a Nokia mobile phone were identified from the debris of the fire and also a "severely corroded" gold signet ring.
Det Sgt Henry said there were partially burned tyres and bushes in the fire and there was a smell of diesel fuel at the scene. The fire, he said, would have reached temperatures of between 600 and 1,000 degrees centigrade.
Det Sgt Stewart Doyle said a video of a television programme, a documentary entitled Trial of Guilt, caught his attention. It told the story of a man who was murdered, the body buried, dug up and encased in concrete. It was dug up again and the culprits then spent a day burning it.
The trial continues today.