MR BRENDAN O'Donnell told the Central Criminal Court yesterday that Imelda Riney appeared before him as he lay in his bed in the Central Mental Hospital, Dundrum.
He said Ms Riney was dead and had a white face and was dressed in black. "I was in bed when I saw her. She appeared at the bottom of the bed. I didn't mind seeing her," he told the court.
Mr O'Donnell said this had happened about a month ago. He said he also heard Ms Riney's voice and that of the devil's on a regular basis - "a couple of times a day".
Later yesterday, in cross examination, he admitted he had "stalked" women but denied he was watching Ms Riney through April 1994.
He repeated his claim that he had a relationship with Ms Riney after Mr Kevin Haugh SC, prosecuting, said he was lying and that Ms Riney's sister, Ms Marie Riney, and former partner, Mr Val Ballance, had been at her house during April 1994 and had never seen Mr O'Donnell.
Mr O'Donnell (21), a native of Co Clare but of no fixed abode, was continuing his evidence on the 33rd day of his trial on 12 charges relating to events in the west of Ireland in 1994.
He has denied the murder of Ms Imelda Riney (29) and her son Liam (3) between April 28th and May 8th, 1994. He also denied the murder of Father Joseph Walsh (37), the former curate of Eyrecourt, Co Galway, between May 3rd and 8th, 1994 and the false imprisonment of Father Walsh.
At the start of yesterday's proceedings, he said he had heard voices earlier in the morning.
Mr O'Donnell said he heard the devil's voice and the voice of Ms Riney "a couple of times a day".
"It confuses me when I hear her voice," he said. He said Ms Riney "asked me to help her off the ground."
He said he heard the devil's voice every day but at no particular time. "He tells me I'm his son."
Defence counsel Mr Patrick MacEntee read Garda notes of a statement and interviews which Mr O'Donnell is alleged to have made while in Loughrea Garda station on May 7th and 8th, 1994.
Mr O'Donnell said he could not remember saying certain things noted in the statements and denied saying a number of other things noted.
He did not remember gardai reading notes of interviews over to him late on Sunday May 8th, 1994. He said he was not allowed any sleep.
Mr O'Donnell said he appeared before a district court on Monday May 9th, and was then sent to Mountjoy Prison in Dublin. There he was sent to a padded cell.
He said he was in the padded cell for "a couple of months". He said he lay on a mattress while there, and had no exercise or association with the other prisoners for a time. He said he was allowed out for 45 minutes exercise daily after two weeks.
He was very depressed while in the cell, Mr O'Donnell said. "I was hearing the devil's voice again.
Voices had told him to go on hunger strike because he was too fat, he said. He went on a number of hunger strikes, the first in May for two or three weeks and he went on a long strike in October.
He said he swallowed 12 pencil batteries on August 21st, 1994. Some acid from these had leaked inside him and caused him pain when going to the toilet. He eventually passed the batteries.
He said while in the cell he threw his food on the floor and would go to the toilet on the floor as well.
When the trial resumed after lunch, Mr O'Donnell told Mr MacEntee he was OK and not hearing voices. He said he did not know why he had soiled his cell and said he would leave the excrement on the floor.
He said he went on a six week hunger strike from October 1994 because a male voice, not the devil's voice, told him he was too fat and no good. "I went on hunger strike to starve myself and die."
Mr O'Donnell said he used to see a large pheasant in his cell which tried to attack him and pick at his flesh. He told the staff, who then said they had shot it and he did not see it then.
A voice had also told him to call everybody Seamus and he did so for a long time.
Mr O'Donnell said he remembered a Dr Charles Kennedy coming to talk to him in November 1994.
He said he was very depressed then and hearing voices. He spelled things wrong for Kennedy which he knew how to spell correctly "so he would recognise I was sick".
He said Dr Charles Smith, at the Central Mental Hospital, had said there was "nothing wrong with me" and that he did not have schizophrenia and was lucky had not because it was a disease.
"Sometimes the devil talks eviller," he said. He said he was the devil's son and had seen the devil when he was 20 in fields at his grandmother's house before he had killed Father Walsh and Ms Riney and Liam Riney.
He described the devil as a man eight feet tall, dressed in black, with hooves and green eyes, "evil eyes, cat's eyes". The devil was smoking a pipe and had come from hell.
He thought it was "good" to see the devil. "He said: `You're my son, Brendan, I'm the devil'. I felt good."
The devil then disappeared and he missed him, Mr O'Donnell said. He had seen the devil again in his cell in Dundrum two nights ago. He was "a bit afraid" of him. "He said `You're my son, Brendan. Count to 100 and you'll go deaf. You're too fat, you're a murderer.'"
He said he wouldn't like the devil to go away. "I like him, I like his power. I have his power since I said a prayer to him when I was a kid." Smiling, he said: "I can kill and cause fire and damage."
At the end of yesterday's direct examination, Mr O'Donnell told his counsel he could hear a voice saying: "Brendan, Brendan, you're no good. Brendan, Brendan, count to 100 and you'll go deaf."