A murder accused told a garda “I wanted to kill him stone dead, he deserved to die”, when he was taken to a station following his arrest, a trial has heard.
Robert Murphy (42) has pleaded not guilty to murder, but guilty to the manslaughter of Jamie Kavanagh (24) at a hostel on Harrington Street, Dublin 8, on April 19th, 2023.
Defence lawyers have said that Mr Murphy admits stabbing Mr Kavanagh, thereby causing his death. They told the jury they would be concerned with the circumstances and the accused's intent at the time.
The Central Criminal Court has heard that Mr Kavanagh lived in a bedsit on Harrington Street, which was run by a hostel and a charity called 'Crosscare'.
Mr Kavanagh was on the first floor and the accused man lived next door to him. Many people living in the premises were "on the margins" and on State aid, the trial has been told.
The jury has already heard that Mr Murphy was followed by gardaí from the scene and was stopped on the street, where he was discovered to be carrying a bag with two large knives, a balaclava, and blood-stained clothing.
Garda Matthew O’Connor, attached to Kevin Street Garda Station, told Paul Greene SC for the prosecution today that he was working the night shift and was on duty at 5:10am when Robert Murphy was brought in as a prisoner.
While in custody, Garda O’Connor said that he heard Robert Murphy tell the station jailer: “I took all the knives out of his room.”
He said he heard Mr Murphy say: “I wanted to kill him stone dead. He deserved to die and somebody had to do something”.
In his evidence, detective garda David Corcoran, also of Kevin Street Garda Station, told Mr Greene that when he arrived at the hostel he observed Jamie Kavanagh with blood on his face, hands, and back.
Garda Corcoran said he had a brief conversation with Mr Kavanagh before he was removed to an ambulance.
Garda Corcoran said that he asked Mr Kavanagh who had attacked him and the victim responded he did not know, that someone had come in and attacked him and run off.
Another garda working at Kevin Street Station that night, garda Mark O’Reilly, outlined to the court the contents of the bag which Mr Murphy had in his possession when he was arrested.
The black ‘Under Armour’ bag contained two black kitchen knives, one half of a garden shears, a black balaclava, a blood stained grey hoodie, tracksuit bottoms, bloodstained gloves, and some drug paraphernalia.
The day after the stabbing, April 20th, garda Liam McLoughlin got a warrant to search the premises of another resident of the hostel on Harrington Street.
This resident's room was searched, and garda McLoughlin said he saw significant paraphernalia associated with drug use.
He said he also saw a half of a garden shears and seized it because he knew about a similar item connected with the assault on Jamie Kavanagh.
Also giving evidence on Friday, State pathologist Dr Sally Anne Collis told Mr Greene that she conducted the postmortem examination on the deceased. She said she found seven injuries from sharp objects; four of those were stab wounds and three were incisions.
She said each of these wounds had inflicted an injury but only one of them caused Mr Kavanagh's death. The prosecution has told the jury that Mr Kavanagh died of a stab wound to the trunk causing internal bleeding, shock, and ultimately death.
The trial continues on Monday before Ms Justice Melanie Greally and a jury of seven men and five women.
