A Dublin murder accused who shot his friend and “chopped him into pieces” has claimed the deceased offered him €20,000 to kill the mother of his child.
Paul Wells Snr (50) has admitted killing Kenneth O'Brien and dismembering his body but has pleaded not guilty to murdering the 33-year-old at his home in Barnamore Park, Finglas on January 15th or 16th, 2016.
The Central Criminal Court on Friday listened to memos of Mr Wells' interviews with gardaí following his arrest on suspicion of murder with a firearm. He told investigators that the deceased wanted him to murder his partner so he could take their child back to Australia, where he had previously lived.
Mr Wells told gardaí that Mr O’Brien brought a gun to his house for this purpose but that he did not want to do it. He said this resulted in a scuffle between them. He said the gun fell and they both tried to get it but he got there first and shot Mr O’Brien in the back of the head.
He said he then panicked and “chopped him into pieces” with a chainsaw Mr O’Brien had lent him previously.
The trial previously heard that Mr O’Brien had transferred more than €50,000 into the accused’s bank account while working in Australia over the previous 18 months.
Hide money
Mr Wells told gardaí that the deceased had asked him to hide this money for him, and that he used to withdraw it and give Mr O’Brien the cash.
“How did he look after you for that?” a garda asked.
“He didn’t look after me. I just did him a favour,” he replied. “He was prepared to give me 20 grand for doing that for him.”
“Doing that?” asked his interviewers.
"Killing Eimear," he said, referring to Mr O'Brien's partner, Eimear Dunne.
They asked if Mr O’Brien had brought the money with him when he arrived to Barnamore on the night he killed him.
“It would have been after it was done,” he replied, adding that he was not going to do it in any case.
“Were you ever worried he’d do it himself?” he was asked.
“Not himself, he’d be too cute for that,” Mr Wells replied.
Mr Wells told gardaí that Mr O’Brien had the gun in his waistband and it fell out during the scuffle.
‘Up for it’
However, his interviewers said that if the deceased had come to his home to give him the weapon, he surely would have done so.
“I wasn’t having any hand act or part in doing anything that he wanted to have done,” Mr Wells replied. “If I was to take it off him, I would be symbolically telling him I was up for it, which I was not.”
A garda put it to Mr Wells that there was no point in Mr O’Brien hurting him if he was going to kill Ms Dunne for him.
“I was there. I know what happened. I’ve told you what happened. Make of it what you will,” he replied.
He said that if he was planning to kill Mr O’Brien, he would have found somewhere other than the home where his family lived and where his child played in the back garden.
On dismembering Mr O’Brien’s remains, Mr Wells said “the way I disposed of that man was deplorable”. He said he might have done something else “if my head was on properly”.
“It’s not like I go around every week and do this,” he added. “It’s been a continual nightmare and I’m burnt out at this stage.”