A man murdered by a single shot to the head had bragged about killing another man by slitting his throat and pulling his teeth, a murder trial jury in the Central Criminal Court has been told.
In cross-examination yesterday, a prosecution witness, Mr Christopher Curry, told the court that Mr Mark Dwyer had bragged about murdering Mr Jock Corbally, saying that he "deserved what he got".
"He got great joy out of slitting his throat and pulling his teeth," Mr Curry said.
Mr Joseph Delaney (54), formerly of La Rochelle, Naas, Co Kildare, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Dwyer (23) on or about December 14th, 1996.
He has also pleaded not guilty to falsely imprisoning Mr Dwyer and detaining him against his will at Foster Terrace, Ballybough, Dublin, on December 14th, 1996.
The prosecution alleges that Mr Delaney murdered Mr Dwyer over the theft of up to 40,000 ecstasy tablets.
Mr Curry said Mr Dwyer possibly had "two or three bodies under his belt".
"Mark was the best thing that ever happened to Joe, according to Joe," Mr Curry said. "Now he had his own hit-man and people would take him seriously."
Prosecution counsel had previously said that the State Pathologist would give evidence that Mr Dwyer died from a laceration of the brain due to a single gunshot wound to the back of the head, fired at "virtual contact range".
The case before Mr Justice Quirke and a jury continues tomorrow.