A car key given to gardaí by a Waterford man on trial for the murder of his wife was not a spare as he had claimed, a Central Criminal Court jury heard today.
John O'Brien (41) with an address in Ballinakill Downs, Co Waterford, denies murdering Meg Walsh (35) on a date between 1st October 2006 and 15 October 2006.
Mr Robert Ashworth, an expert locksmith, told Mr Dominic McGinn BL, prosecuting, that the key Mr O'Brien gave gardaí as the spare key of Ms Walsh's Mitsubishi Charisma had been used more often and more recently than a second key also found at the house.
In interviews with the gardaí Mr O'Brien said that Meg's car had only two keys "as far as he knew" and the key, with a remote control fob, that he had provided was the spare key. He agreed that whoever had abandoned Meg's car in the carpark of the Uluru pub had her keys. The jury have already seen CCTV footage which the prosecution say shows the car being locked with a remote control fob.
Mr Ashworth told Mr McGinn that, in his estimation, the fobbed key had 45,000 miles of use, going from the car's 60,000 total mileage. He showed the jury photographs which showed that the blade of the key was clean, indicating more recent use.
The jury also heard from Mr Michael Whelan, fleet manager for Hertz Rent-A-Car, who told Mr McGinn that the Mitsubishi Charisma had been a rental car before Ms Walsh purchased it in 2002. When the car was sold to her it had 34,800 miles on the clock.
The jury heard that when the car was used as a rental car only the plain key was provided, and the fobbed key was kept in storage by the garage. Mr Ashworth agreed with Mr McCarthy that this would mean his mileage figures could be wrong.
The jury also heard from Inspector John Hunt who told Mr McCarthy that he had not embarked on an "emotional blitz on the jury" in his primary evidence yesterday.
In relation to CCTV footage which the state says shows Mr O'Brien standing not far from the spot his wife's body would be pulled out of the River Suir two weeks later at the time he had told gardaí he was having his last conversation with her at home, Inspector Hunt agreed that there was no evidence that Mr O'Brien's car had been on the Quay after 5.32 pm on October 1st.
Mr O'Brien told gardaí that he had spent that afternoon in Tramore reading the Sunday papers. He said he had driven straight home and talked to Meg at around 5pm.
The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Barry White and the jury of seven men and five women.