A Dublin man who denies murder on the day the man who was shot was himself due to go on trial for murder has claimed he has no memory of making a statement to gardai.
In a statement made after 26 hours in custody, Mr Paul McCarthy allegedly said he knew his friend Martin Comerford wanted to die. Yesterday Mr Anthony Sammon SC, defending, said his client had little or no memory of making the statement.
In other evidence, Mr McCarthy's partner, Ms Eva Fitzpatrick, said that after the shooting, he returned to her flat early in the morning and told her what happened.
It was the fifth day of prosecution evidence in the Central Criminal Court trial of Mr McCarthy (37), Chamber Street, Dublin 8, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Comerford (36), Tom Kelly Road Flats, Charlemont Street, Dublin 2.
Mr Comerford's body was found at the end of a laneway off Lower Mount Pleasant Avenue, Ranelagh, on April 26th, 1999. On the day his body was found, he was due to go on trial for the murder of another Dublin man, Anthony Beatty.
The jury has heard that Mr McCarthy spent two 24-hour periods in detention in Terenure Garda station after he was arrested on May 11th, 1999. On the afternoon of May 12th, Mr McCarthy made a statement to detectives in which he allegedly said he knew that Mr Comerford wanted to die.
Det Insp Tim Mulvey told Mr Sammon that Mr McCarthy told gardai there were a few things he "wanted to clear up". Mr McCarthy said Mr Comerford thought he would "get done" for the murder of Mr Beatty and did not want to spend 20 years in jail. "He used to talk about ways of killing himself. I used to think he was joking but he would go on and on about it," the statement read.
Mr McCarthy allegedly told gardai that he and Mr Comerford had spoken about the shooting. "I said, `I will shoot you in the leg. Are you sure?' He said, `don't worry, these are only pepper shots, they will only wound me.' I knew he wanted to die," the statement read.
Mr Sammon said his client "has great difficulties of recollection in relation to this interview". The jury was told the statement followed a visit to Mr McCarthy by Dr James Moloney.
Dr Moloney told Mr Sammon he would not have dispensed anything that would have caused Mr McCarthy to have little recollection of what transpired in the detention that followed. In a statement to gardai, Mr McCarthy said after shooting Mr Comerford and hiding the gun in an ESB storeroom in Tom Kelly Road flats, he returned to Ms Fitzpatrick's flat and smoked heroin.
In court yesterday, Ms Fitzpatrick told Mr Paul McDermott SC, prosecuting, that Mr McCarthy returned to the flat early in the morning and woke her. "He was just pacing the room, up and down, shaking," she said. "He told me that he shot Martin. I didn't believe him. He was very upset, he was shaking, I don't think he could believe what happened."
She said Mr McCarthy told her Mr Comerford "asked him to wound. He told me that he shut his eyes to pull the trigger and that when he did, Martin pulled the gun."
The trial continues before Mr Justice Carney and the jury.