THE JURY hearing the trial of Brian Kearney, who is charged with murdering his wife Siobhán, has been sent home for the weekend with a warning not to draw any early conclusions about what went on in the family's home two years ago.
Brian Kearney (51), Carnroe, Knocknashee, Goatstown, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife Siobhán (38), on February 28th, 2006 - his 49th birthday.
Yesterday afternoon, Mr Justice Barry White told the jury of eight women and four men that legal argument in the case had not finished and they would not be required to return until Monday.
"I'm asking you at this stage not to be rushing to judgment or drawing any conclusions as to what happened in Mr and Mrs Kearney's home this day two years ago." He also asked them to ignore media coverage.
"At the end of the day, it's the decision of the 12 of you and only the 12 of you."
Yesterday the court heard evidence of the Kearneys' financial situation, with a forensic accountant telling the court Mr Kearney had net assets of €5.1 million.
Accountant Toni Massey told the court there were borrowings of €844,456 against the family's home in Goatstown, with mortgage repayments totalling €15,300 a month for a house and garden the couple had built and a hotel the couple owned in Spain.
Mr Kearney had received a letter from his bank telling him that his borrowing was "outside the usual lending criteria", which the court heard would normally fall within 40 to 45 per cent of borrowing against his income.
In his case, the bank was lending 64 per cent, Ms Massey told the court.
Mr Kearney had net earnings of €118,586, she said, which over 12 months left him with a monthly income of €9,882.
Ms Massey was questioned about his financial viability.
"They needed to sell an asset to relieve the €850,000 that they had borrowed on the family home to build the house and the garden and if they had done that there would be no significant financial pressure, they would be mortgage free," she said.
Under cross-examination from Patrick Gageby, defending, Ms Massey was shown documents from Mr Kearney's family business, Associated Electrical, which she agreed showed two term deposits of €500,000, which supported the suggestion that the company was selling property it owned and liquidating.
Had it been liquidated, Mr Kearney, who had a 25 per cent share in the company, would have received €1.355 million, although he would have to pay capital gains tax on it, Ms Massey told the court.
The court also heard from Garda John Phelan, who searched the Goatstown home and found a diary in the hot press.
Ms Kearney's passport was also wrapped in sheets under clothing on the top shelf. "Behind the tank on the ground I found a diary," he told the court. It had entries from January 27th until February 27th.
Ms Kearney's sister Anne Marie Sparkes told the court that "looking at these initial pages and subsequent pages, this is the hand-writing of my sister Siobhán McLaughlin". She was asked if she meant the wife of Mr Kearney, to which she replied yes.
The prosecution, led by Denis Vaughan Buckley SC, rested its case yesterday.
Mr Gageby said the admitted facts were that Mr Kearney had no previous convictions and the hotel in Spain had been on the market since late summer in 2005.
The trial will continue on Monday.