A life sentence was imposed last night on a chef and father of one for the murder of his friend and former work colleague.
At the Central Criminal Court Joe Greaney (35), from Limerick with an address at Cahernane Meadows, Killarney, Co Kerry, had denied murdering Fergal Landy (27), from Ennis, Co Clare, and also of Cahernane Meadows, Killarney, outside the dead man's apartment, but had admitted his manslaughter.
Greaney had stabbed the man he described as his best friend through the heart with a large chef's knife which he had taken from a drawer in his home, along with a golf club, before making his way to Mr Landy's apartment on the night of January 24th, 2005. It was one of two stab wounds he inflicted on Mr Landy.
After more than nine hours of deliberation, the jury returned the majority verdict of 10 to 2 at the Central Criminal Court in Tralee yesterday evening. It was the first sitting of the court in Tralee in the history of the State.
Mr Justice Paul Carney sentenced Greaney to the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment and refused leave to appeal.
He exempted the jury of seven men and five women from jury service for life after thanking them for their careful attention.
Greaney told gardaí he only meant to frighten Fergal Landy when he went to his apartment carrying a golf club and a knife.
Greaney, who never took the stand, told gardaí he had drunk two bottles of white wine on the night of the murder and that he had been on medication for anxiety.
He went to Mr Landy's apartment to clear the air after an incident in the White Gates pub a week earlier. He was leaving for a new life in Sligo and had a job in Ballina. He said he had never intended to kill "his best mate".
The two men had worked together, they had gone on all-night drinking sessions and had been golfing partners.
They lived near each other in Killarney.
But a week before the murder, there had been an altercation between Mr Landy and Greaney at the White Gates pub in Killarney, when Mr Landy thought Greaney was "coming on" to his partner, Rachel Doyle, the court heard during the six-day trial.
A week later Mr Landy and Ms Doyle had been relaxing in their apartment with their three-week-old baby girl at about 11.30pm on January 24th, 2005.
They had rented a car and were planning to go to Ennis the next day to visit Mr Landy's relatives.
Mr Landy had his shoes off and was on the couch holding the baby when Greaney arrived and the tragic events unfolded.
Ms Doyle told the court yesterday in a victim impact statement the most heart-breaking thing was having to bring their baby daughter to the graveside of her father to kiss his cross.
"My life and the future that Fergal, our daughter and I had planned together has been ruined and taken from us forever. Fergal is my soulmate, who I love deeply and always will."
Nigel Landy, the twin brother of the dead man, said: "He was not only my twin brother. He was my best friend."