Victim's blood found on murder accused's shoes, court hears
A murder trial has heard today that the dead man's blood was found on the defendant's shoes in a pattern consistent with kicking or stamping.
Lukasz Rzeszutko (aged 27) was found unconscious on October 2, 2010 outside his workplace in the Newtown Industrial Estate in Coolock.
The Polish native had been due to start his shift at 4.30am, the time he was discovered.
The injuries were all to his head; he had multiple skull fractures with severe brain injury, and brain matter was extruding from his nostrils. He died in hospital two days later.
Martin Morgan (aged 20) of Tonlegee Road, Raheny has pleaded not guilty to murdering the young man, but guilty to his manslaughter.
However, the DPP did not accept this plea and he is now on trial at the Central Criminal Court charged with murder.
Forensic scientist Dr Stephen Clifford testified today that he found the victim’s blood on Martin Morgan’s runners.
His colleague, forensic scientist Dr David Casey, testified that he carried out blood pattern analysis on this blood from 12cm of stitching on one of the runners. He concluded that it was contact staining.
He said this was “more likely to have been acquired if Martin Morgan kicked and or stamped on Lukasz Rzeszutko” than if he had not done so.
Paul McDermott SC, defending Martin Morgan, asked him if the blood could have come from blood on the ground.
“Not in this instance in my opinion,” replied Dr Casey.
“The stitching on the right runner was two-and-a-half centimetres from the sole so that would want to be some pool of blood to go up two-and-a-half centimetres and sink into the stitching,” he continued.
“I would find it highly unlikely to have a pool of blood two-and-a-half centimetres in height and that a whole shoe would fit into it,” he added. “I’d have a very low expectation of that occurring.”
Mr McDermott asked him if this was possible had the shoe walked through the blood.
“I couldn’t rule it out,” he said.
“Is it possible?” he was asked.
“It is possible,” he replied.
Mr Justice Barry White asked the witness to point out where he’d found Mr Rzeszutko’s blood. The scientist put on gloves and pointed to a crevice that he said was two-and-a-half centimetres from the sole.
Two other Dublin men were also charged with murdering Lukasz Rzeszutko and entered the same pleas as Morgan.
Stephen Byrne (aged 18) of St Donagh’s Road, Donaghmede; and Morgan’s cousin, Edward Byrne, (aged 21) of Cabra Park, Cabra had their pleas to manslaughter accepted by the DPP. They will be sentenced at a later date.
The trial continues on Monday before Mr Justice White and a jury of seven women and five men.
