MR BRENDAN O'Donnell told the Central Criminal Court yesterday the devil had told him to kill his grandmother and uncle as well as others, but he "forgot". He denied he had made up things so people would believe he was mad.
Mr O'Donnell (21), a native of Co Clare but of no fixed abode was being cross examined by Mr Kevin Haugh SC, prosecuting, on the 35th day of his trial on 12 charges relating to events in the west of Ireland in 1994.
He denies the murder of Ms Imelda Riney (29) and her son Liam (3) between April 28th and May 8th 1994. He also denies the murder of Father Joseph Walsh (37), former curate of Eyrecourt, Co Galway, between May 3rd and 8th 1994 and the false imprisonment of Father Walsh.
Mr O'Donnell has pleaded, not guilty to kidnapping Ms Fiona Sampson and Mr Edward Cleary on May 7th, 1994, and to hijacking vehicles driven by both persons. He has also denied having a shotgun and ammunition with intent to endanger life and for unlawful purposes on the same date.
Mr Haugh concluded his cross examination of Mr O'Donnell yesterday morning.
Dr Michael Ledwith, a consultant psychiatrist, said he first saw Mr O'Donnell on February 17th, 1978, in an assessment clinic. The boy, with his parents and brother and sister, was just under four years. The children had been referred to the clinic by the public health services because of behavioural problems.
Mr O'Donnell's mother had taken an overdose the previous year and was seen by a psychiatrist at the local regional hospital but did not continue to attend.
Mrs O'Donnell had told him she was treated like a servant by her husband, who also displayed no affection for his children.
Dr Ledwith was concerned about the family and saw the O'Donnells nine times up to 1979. He next saw Brendan O'Donnell on August 4th, 1978. On February 2nd, 1979, Mrs O'Donnell told him that Brendan was hallucinating at night. She felt she could not cope any longer.
Dr Ledwith prescribed Valium for Brendan to help him sleep. He then saw him on April 6th, 1979, and again on April 27th, 1979, when Mrs O'Donnell said there was no improvement. He recommended a psychiatric assessment and put Brendan on a new drug.
He saw him again on May 11th, 1979. By Mrs O'Donnell's account he was a little better but still moody. As for her, difficulties with her husband had her "at the end of her tether", said Dr Ledwith, and he was increasingly disturbed by the situation in the family.
On June 1st, 1979, Mrs O'Donnell told him Brendan was improving. She herself was anxious for hospitalisation and that the children be in care if she was sent.
On July 6th, 1979, Mrs O'Donnell had told him Brendan was "back at square one". She said he told her he had worms coming out of his ears.
Dr Ledwith again saw the O'Donnells as an emergency appointment in August 1979. Mrs O'Donnell was anxious to get treatment, and her husband had agreed to her going into a psychiatric hospital.
Dr Ledwith did not see Brendan after that but he was seen by an experienced psychologist at Bawnmore assessment centre March 1985 when he was almost 11 years old. He was accompanied by his father who reported his wife had died in January 1984. O'Donnell did not report any difficulties with Brendan.
Several tests revealed the boy's intelligence was borderline between mild mental handicap and low average. Dr Ledwith said the report recommended a psychiatric appointment and a conference discussion with a social worker involved with the family. The appointment was not kept.
Cross examined by Mr Peter Charleton SC, prosecuting, Dr Ledwith said Mrs O'Donnell had been referred to a psychiatric hospital in Ennis in August 1979.
Ms Cecily O'Brien said she was vice principal of Lakyle national school at Whitegate. Brendan had come to Lakyle when 4 1/2 in September 1978 and stayed until March 1985.
His mother would bring him to school and frequently had to sit with him until he told her she could go.
Ms O'Brien said Brendan O'Donnell would fight in the classroom and was disruptive.
His behaviour was discussed with his father before he was transferred to Mountshannon school in 1985, but Mr O'Donnell said he was not responsible for him after he left his home.
Mr Jim Collins, principal of Mountshannon, said that in his 22 years as a teacher, Brendan was "the most disturbed child I would have had".
The trial resumes before Mr Justice Lavan and the jury on Monday.