Man charged with Donegal murder remanded in custody

Alan Vial (38) appeared by videolink at Letterkenny District Court on Thursday

Alan Vial’s solicitor asked for the case to be adjourned until September 4th to allow for a book of evidence to be served on his client. Photograph: NW Newspix
Alan Vial’s solicitor asked for the case to be adjourned until September 4th to allow for a book of evidence to be served on his client. Photograph: NW Newspix

A man charged with the murder of another man whose body was found off cliffs in Co Donegal after a weeklong search has been remanded in custody to allow for a book of evidence to be served in his case.

Alan Vial (38) appeared by video-link at Letterkenny District Court on Thursday.

Mr Vial, from Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, has been charged with the murder of Robert Wilkin on June 25th at a place unknown within the State.

The charges followed a large-scale search involving gardaí, the Irish Coast Guard and other agencies including the Donegal Mountain Rescue team.

READ MORE

Mr Vial’s solicitor Patsy Gallagher asked for the case to be adjourned until September 4th to allow for a book of evidence to be served on his client.

Wearing a grey sweatshirt, Vial spoke briefly when asked if he was happy with the remand in custody saying: “Yes, I am.”

Mr Gallagher added that there are also summary matters for Mr Vial but that they are of a different nature.

He also told Mr Vial that he will be in touch for a consultation with his legal counsel.

Mr Wilkin’s remains were found in the water near Sliabh Liag following a weeklong search for his remains. The search followed a tip-off to gardaí that a serious assault had taken place and an investigation was launched.

A postmortem has been carried out on Mr Wilkin’s remains but gardaí have not released the results for operational reasons.