CCTV footage shows a car matching the description of Joe O'Reilly's Fiat Marea near the O'Reilly home on the morning of the murder, a jury in the Central Criminal Court heard yesterday.
It was the 16th day of the trial of Mr O'Reilly (35) Lambay View, Baldarragh, The Naul, Co Dublin, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering his 30-year-old wife, Rachel O'Reilly, at the family home on October 4th, 2004.
Det Garda Seán Fitzpatrick told prosecuting counsel Dominic McGinn, that he spent "weeks" viewing 119 separate pieces of CCTV footage from around the city centre and north Co Dublin.
He said he did this to see whether Mr O'Reilly or a car matching the description of his navy-coloured Fiat Marea estate, could be seen at various places during the day of the murder.
He said a camera placed at the entrance to Murphy's Quarry, down the road from the O'Reilly home, primarily covered the site entrance, but also showed some of the public road, where vehicles could be seen travelling past.
The O'Reilly home was not viewable from the footage, but he said it was some distance behind the camera.
When he looked at the CCTV footage from this camera, he saw what he believed to be Rachel O'Reilly's Renault Scenic car heading south and going away from the house at 9:03am.
At 9:10am he saw what he believed to be a navy-coloured estate car heading towards the O'Reilly household. At 09:41am he again saw the car he believed to be Ms O'Reilly's pass the quarry in the direction of the house.
Eighteen minutes later, at 9:59am he said: "I observed what I believed to be a navy coloured estate car pass by the quarry heading south, going away from the O'Reilly house." Seven minutes later, at 10:07am, a car matching that description was seen on CCTV footage at Blake's Cross, travelling south.
The next time he saw a car matching that description from footage at the Murphy's Quarry was later that afternoon, at 2:13pm, going in the direction of the house. He said CCTV footage at Viacom, the outdoor advertising company where he worked in Bluebell Industrial Estate, showed Mr O'Reilly first arrive in work at 7:37am and leave again at 8:07am.
He said Mr O'Reilly's co-worker Derek Quearney left at 8:51am, nearly 44 minutes later.
Det Garda Fitzpatrick said he also studied CCTV footage from between 8.30am and 11.30am in the Phibsboro and Broadstone bus garages and that at no stage did he see Mr O'Reilly.
The court has already heard evidence that this is where Mr O'Reilly said he was at this time. He told gardaí he was there to inspect posters with Mr Quearney. Det Garda Fitzpatrick said he did see Mr Quearney, arrive in the reception area at 9.26am. However, he said other footage showed a bus coming from the Finglas direction entering the garage and stopping to let out two cars, one dark and one light, as they leave.
He agreed with Mr McGinn that this footage was in keeping with evidence already given by a bus driver who said he let two cars out of the depot, one dark and one light, as he was returning from his route.
Referring to the route they believed Mr O'Reilly to have taken from work to the bus garage, he said he did not observe a car matching that of Mr O'Reilly's going towards the garages in CCTV footage from Áras Uí Dhálaigh on Church St in the city centre. However, Det Garda Fitzpatrick said he saw a silver Citroen Xsara matching the description of Mr Quearney's going in the direction of the garage at 9:19am.
From the same CCTV camera at 11:10am, he saw a car he believed to be Mr Quearney's travel away from the bus garage towards the quays and that "directly behind" this car, he observed a car he believed to be a Fiat Marea.
Det Garda Fitzpatrick said he believed the first car to be that of Mr Quearney's because there was a hubcap missing. He said he also studied CCTV footage from outside the Europrise car park at Blake's Cross, just north of Balheary. At 08:55am he observed what he believed to be a "navy coloured estate car travelling north". Over an hour later, he saw "a navy coloured estate car similar to a Fiat Marea travelling south". Footage from the Viacom CCTV camera at 11:48am showed Mr O'Reilly arrive back in work and Mr Quearney return at 11: 48:30am
Another camera at the entrance to Bluebell Industrial Estate, outside a company called Carroll & Kinsella shows a navy Fiat Marea leaving at 8.12am, and entering at 11:50am. He said Mr Quearney's Citroen Xsara was seen re-entering the estate "two minutes later" at 11:52am.
Det Garda O'Sullivan agreed with Mr McGinn that footage showed Mr O'Reilly's car leaving the industrial estate at 8.12am and that when a call was made from Nikki Pelley's phone to Mr O'Reilly at 8:12am, the signal from his phone was picked up by a mast in Chapelizod, just north of the industrial estate.