A chronic alcoholic who killed a father-of-three by stabbing him 16 times after an all-day drinking session was jailed for life at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin yesterday.
The body of the victim, Peter Mitchell (32), lay covered in blood with his ankles tied together for three days before being found by gardaí.
Alan Keogh (33), from Wellmount Green, Finglas, Dublin, had denied murder but admitted the manslaughter of Mr Mitchell at Monasterboice Road, Crumlin, Dublin, between October 17th and October 20th, 2003.
The jury returned a unanimous murder verdict after deliberating for just under three hours.
Mr Justice Barry White imposed the mandatory sentence of life on Keogh.
In a victim impact statement, the sister of murdered man, Ellen Mitchell, described the effect her brother's murder has had on friends and family. She said he was her best friend. "I still miss him. My heart is broken."
She also spoke of the loss experienced by Mr Mitchell's three children with whom he had a loving and supportive relationship. On the day he was murdered Mr Mitchell had collected them from his ex-partner and had taken them to the duck pond off the Royal Canal and then to McDonald's, before dropping them home at 7pm.
During the trial the court heard that on the day of the murder Keogh, a recovering alcoholic, relapsed despite completing a residential course only weeks previously.
In an interview with gardaí, Keogh said he met a friend in town and continued drinking all day, along with another woman.
He was in a pub on Parnell Street when Mr Mitchell came up to talk to them.
Later all four went back to Mr Mitchell's house on Monasterboice Road to "get locked". He said he drank a naggin of vodka, 10 pints and a couple of cans.
Keogh said after the other man had passed out, he also began to fall asleep on a chair with the woman. When he woke up he saw the victim rubbing the back of his companion. He claimed he ordered him to stop, telling him "he's not that kind of fella".
Later, when he woke up again, he claimed he saw the hand of the victim touching his friend improperly. After that he "totally lost it".
He grabbed his friend's crutch and started "whacking him with it" until the victim fell against the wall.
Keogh said he did not initially notice Mr Mitchell grab the knife from the kitchen, but when Mr Mitchell began to come towards him, he continued to swing the crutch.
Keogh admitted he did not think the victim was going to attack him with the knife. When he accidentally dropped the crutch, a struggle ensued, in which he tried to get the knife off Mr Mitchell.
Keogh claimed it was at this point the knife cut his own hand, causing him to bleed for a number of days. After that, he claimed he did not know what he was doing.
Keogh told gardaí he thought he blacked out.
"It all happened so fast, so quick, that it was only when it was all over that I realised I had stabbed him so many times."
Sixteen stab wounds were identified by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy.