A 27-year-old man went on trial yesterday for the "brutal" murder of Co Tyrone man Noel Williamson more than three years ago.
Dungannon Crown Court heard that at the time of the murder on October 13th, 2004, Mathew O'Donnell was living under an assumed name (John O'Connor) in Castlepark, Caledon.
John Orr QC, prosecuting, also told the jury of seven men and five women that within hours of the murder of Mr Williamson (30), the defendant was in Monaghan, from where he travelled to Cork.
Mr O'Donnell, of no fixed abode, is the second man accused of the killing of Mr Williamson, whose body was discovered on a pathway along the banks of the river Blackwater by a man out walking his dog.
Last year, Samuel Houston (20), Churchill Cottages, Caledon, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Williamson, described by Mr Orr as "a simple fellow" who was never known to be involved in "violence of any shape or form".
Mr Justice Hart heard that Houston and another man were found downstairs in the house Mr O'Donnell was renting in the Co Tyrone village. Mr O'Donnell, who has lived in Monaghan, Galway and Tralee, was supposed to be upstairs in the house but when police searched they found only an open window.
However, in follow-up searches they uncovered two sets of clothing and a kitchen knife wrapped in a plastic bag, all of which had blood on them, blood which forensics showed "came almost certainly" from Mr Williamson.
Mr Orr claimed that one set, a hooded top and jeans, had been worn by Houston, while the other, a hooded top and a pair of track suit bottoms, which had a sown label with Mr O'Donnell's name, belonged to the accused.
The lawyer said while it was "crystal clear that a whole lot of alcohol was taken", by all involved, one possible motive for the killing could be traced back to a beating Houston had received five weeks earlier. Mr Orr said Houston was set upon by a group of men after travelling to Armagh in a taxi with Mr Williamson.
The fact that he did not come to his aid, added the lawyer, is "the only factor that has been gleamed from the investigation that might have been a motive".
Mr Orr claimed that the pattern of blood on the clothing showed that both men were in close proximity to the attack and that because two people were involved it "does not matter who fires the shot, or puts the knife in", both were guilty.
He added that Mr Williamson had been "brutally killed".