A Limerick man pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court yesterday to the murder of a man alleged to have been having an affair with his friends' mother. Mr William O'Neill (28), of no fixed abode but previously of Garryowen, Co Limerick, pleaded not guilty to the charge that on or about August 9th, 1996, he murdered father of eight Mr Sean Colbert outside his home at Lenihan Avenue, Prospect, Limerick.
Mr Denis Vaughan-Buckley SC, prosecuting, told the jury Mr Colbert was "shot and fatally wounded as he climbed the steps to his home at Lenihan Avenue, Prospect, on the morning of August 9th, 1996."
He said Mr Colbert was shot twice in the back with a .22 calibre weapon and the motive was "jealousy and revenge for an affair the deceased was alleged to be having with the wife of Paddy Brennan", the father of the accused's then girlfriend.
The court heard that on the night of the shooting, two men in balaclavas appeared outside Mr Colbert's home as he arrived by taxi. His taxi driver, Mr William O'Brien, had just driven off when he heard three loud bangs. He immediately returned to Mr Colbert's house, where he saw him slumped on the outside steps, before calling an ambulance.
Mr Colbert's son, Andrew, heard his father returning home and then two or three shots. He ran to the front door where he saw his father smash through the glass-panelled door. Mr Colbert was pronounced dead at Limerick Regional Hospital.
Counsel for the defence is not denying the accused was present when Mr Colbert was shot, Mr Vaughan-Buckley said. He said the main issue was not whether Mr Colbert was unlawfully killed but whether Mr O'Neill intended to kill him or cause him serious injury. Mr Vaughan-Buckley said Mr O'Neill had previously made a statement to Det Garda Patrick Cox at Roxboro Road Garda station, following his arrest in June 1997, in which he had admitted being present at the time of the shooting.
Mr Vaughan-Buckley said it was for the jury to decide if Mr O'Neill was engaged in a "joint enterprise" to kill or seriously injure Mr Colbert. He said Mr O'Neill arrived at the scene, wearing a balaclava and overalls and the man with him was carrying a loaded firearm.
"Going with someone with a loaded revolver envisages violence," he said.
In his direct evidence, Det Garda Pat Cox, of Roxboro Road Garda station said the accused admitted in a statement that he had gone with another man to the scene of the shooting but that he had not fired the gun. Reading from the statement, taken on June 7th, 1997, Det Cox said Mr O'Neill told gardai his friend's father, Mr Paddy Brennan, had urged him to "get someone to frighten Seany Colbert . . . He kept asking me for weeks to get someone."
Det Cox said Mr O'Neill told gardai that the night before Mr Colbert was shot dead he, Mr Andrew Brennan and his father, Paddy, drove around the vicinity of Mr Colbert's house in preparation for "the job".
The statement said that on the night of the shooting, the accused and Mr Andrew Brennan walked to where a bag had been hidden in a laneway and pulled on overalls and balaclavas from the bag. At this point, Mr O'Neill alleges Mr Andrew Brennan said to him that "this is a family thing, I want to do it. I gave him the gun but I didn't feel right about it. He was hyper," the statement said.
Det Cox said the accused said Mr Andrew Brennan claimed he had more of a right to shoot.
"We hid in a garden across from Colbert's house. Andrew knew the house. We hid in the garden. We were there about 10 to 15 minutes when Seany Colbert came along in a taxi. Andrew knew all his movements.
"The cab stopped. Andrew said `that's him, that's him, wait until the cab pulls away'. Andrew ran towards Colbert. Seany saw him and tried to get up the steps.
"I saw sparks and heard bangs and glass breaking. As we were running, Andrew said: `I think I shot him, I think I shot him'."
Prof John Harbison, who conducted the post mortem, concluded the cause of death was a haemothorax of the right lung caused by a bullet puncture.
The trial continues.