A series of "jigsaw pieces" will prove beyond reasonable doubt that an 18-year-old man accused of the rape and murder of a young woman in Cork is guilty, a prosecuting lawyer told a jury at the Central Criminal Court yesterday.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies murdering Ms Rachel Kiely (22) at Regional Park, Ballincollig, Co Cork, on October 26th, 2000. He has also pleaded not guilty to rape on the same occasion.
Opening the trial, Mr Patrick J. McCarthy SC, prosecuting, said Ms Kiely went missing following a walk in the park, a short distance from her home at Inishmore Square, Ballincollig. She left her house at 4.45 p.m. but her mother became concerned when two dogs returned alone to the family house half an hour later.
Both her mother and sister went to look for her. They passed a ruined premises in the park and noticed the accused nearby.
The woman's body was discovered in the ruined building at around 8 p.m. "It will prove a significant element of the evidence that places the accused in or about 6.15 p.m. or 6.20 p.m. in the vicinity of the ruin where the body of the deceased was found."
A number of people in the park spotted the accused on the evening of the killing, counsel said. He arrived in the park on a motorcycle with friends after 5 p.m. and was "engaged in a number of activities, doing wheelies" on his bike before leaving the park by foot alongside his friends. "He met up with his friends again later that evening at 6.30 p.m. and his movements are effectively accounted for until the body was found."
The trial continues.