Rachel O'Reilly's birth brother yesterday told a jury in the Central Criminal Court that he did not see or speak to Rachel on the day of her killing.
Mother of two Rachel O'Reilly (30), who was adopted at birth, was murdered at the family home in the Naul, Co Dublin on October 4th, 2004.
Her husband Joe O'Reilly (35), Lambay View, Baldarragh, the Naul, Co Dublin has pleaded not guilty to her murder.
Thomas Lowe, Mrs O'Reilly's birth brother, told the court that after his family first got to know Rachel in 1991, "contact faded out for a bit", but that he respected her decision.
However, he said the family got to know her again when she joined Jackie Skelly's gym as a friend of his worked there.
Mr Lowe, a carpenter, said he and his brother helped the O'Reillys by doing some work around their house. "I was on very good terms with Rachel," he said. He also revealed that he joined Joe and Rachel's softball team after the couple invited him to do so.
He said that on two occasions he spent the night in their house when Joe was not there.
In August 2004, he was putting decking in their back garden when he cut his hand. He said the cut was "deep enough" and that it was dripping blood as he walked into the utility room to look for a bandage. "Some blood may have dripped on to the washing machine," he said.
He added that when he told Rachel about it, she replied "don't worry about that, I'll clean that up". He said some blood also fell on the kitchen floor and that his sister cleaned that up too.
He said the last contact he had with Rachel was the day before her murder, when she and Joe called over to his house in Walkinstown with the children.
Asked about his movements on the day of the killing, he said he woke up when his brother rang to tell him he couldn't go on a job that morning.
Because of that, he said he couldn't go either as two people were needed for the job. After that, he said he stayed in bed until 12.30 and decided against going into town to meet his girlfriend.
He said the first person to see him that day was a neighbour, who was collecting money for the local church. He said this woman called at about 2 o'clock. At 5pm, he said Joe O'Reilly called him to tell him Rachel was murdered.
Defence counsel Ms Anne Rowland began her cross-examination by asking Mr Lowe about his statements to gardaí relating to the blood found on the washing machine. He said he first spoke to gardaí on October 5th, when he told them he hadn't gone to work that day because his brother had to stay at home with his sick child.
He agreed he only told gardaí about the cut on his hand in a statement dated March 21st, 2005.
At first, Mr Lowe thought he made contact with gardaí about the cut, but when asked again what could have prompted him to do this, he said: "Actually, the guards did actually say there was blood there." He also agreed he made a further statement in May 2005 telling them his blood had dripped on to the washing machine.
Asked "why would you think the blood would still be on the washing machine," he said: "I don't know."
Ms Rowland said while the swab was an "incomplete DNA profile", forensic scientists were able to confirm there was a one in 15,000 chance of someone else in the population having the same DNA. Mr Lowe said gardaí "never told me that".
In closing her cross-examination, Ms Rowland said: "There wasn't anyone who could say where you were during that morning." He replied: "No."
Prosecuting counsel Mr Dominick McGinn then resumed his questioning and asked him whether he'd spoken with Rachel or gone to her home on the day of her murder.
Mr Lowe again said: "No." Asked where he lived at the time, he said: "Walkinstown."
Teresa Lowe, Mrs O'Reilly's birth mother, had told social workers she would be happy to meet her daughter again in the future if she came looking for her.
Ms Lowe told prosecuting counsel Denis Vaughan Buckley SC that she was 17 when she gave birth to Rachel, whom she named "Teresa Green". She said she gave her up for adoption a short time later with the instructions that if Rachel ever wanted to make contact, she could.
In 1991, Rachel did contact social workers and she was reunited with Mrs Lowe and her two sons, Thomas and Patrick, and an on-off relationship followed.
The trial before Mr Justice Barry White and a jury of nine men and two women continues on Monday.