A man accused of murder was seen driving into Drogheda town with a fair-haired girl in the passenger seat of his car on the day a German woman disappeared, a witness told a jury at the Central Criminal Court yesterday.
Mr John Clarke, a local painting contractor, was stopped at a junction when he recalled seeing the accused drive past him towards Drogheda. "The driver of that car was Michael Murphy. There was a girl sitting in the passenger seat," Mr Clarke said.
The woman in the passenger seat was "just a girl with fair hair, shoulder-length", and he saw them at "three minutes to two exactly" in the afternoon. He described the car as "very dark in colour".
Mr Clarke was giving evidence on the fifth day of the murder trial of Mr Michael Murphy (42), Rathmullen Park, Drogheda, Co Louth. Mr Murphy denies murdering German journalist Ms Bettina Poeschel (28) on a date between September 25th and October 17th, 2001, at Donore, Co Meath.
Earlier, a forensic scientist, Ms Martina McBride, told the court that her findings on vaginal swabs taken from Ms Poeschel's body confirmed the presence of semen. She also found there was seminal staining on the black panties found on Ms Poeschel but said that because of a strong "Jeyes Fluid, disinfectant or creosol-type smell" on them, they had to be sent off for further testing.
Ms McBride also told the jury that the blue gortex jacket worn by Bettina also "smelt of the same disinfectant smell".
The victim's red leather shoes, found in a skip near some roadwork buildings in Donore, were also forensically tested and found to have a piece of leather missing from the inside. A matching piece of red leather was later found in the grass near the crime scene.
She also said that a button and metal waistband clasp found on the body matched black trousers also found hidden in a skip. "The clasp found on the body fitted neatly into the missing clasp gap on the waistband of the trousers," she said.
Garda Charles O'Hanlon from Drogheda station gave evidence that he was conducting house-to- house inquiries three days after Ms Poeschel's decomposed body was found in a dense thicket. He said he interviewed the accused at a house in Rathmullen Park on October 20th, 2001, as part of his inquiries and found him to be "calm when talking to gardaí".
The trial continues next week before Mr Justice O'Caoimh and a jury of seven men and five women.