IMELDA Riney appeared to be "in agony" when she was seen driving her car near Whitegate village on April 29th, 1994, a post mistress told the Central Criminal Court yesterday.
Ms Mary Tuohy said she parked her post van about 12.40 p.m. outside the village. She heard a car and looked up. It was a beige colour and she recognised the driver as Imelda Riney whom she knew.
The car was going at about 20 m.p.h., she said. She expected Ms Riney to pull in to collect her mail but realised she was not going to. Ms Riney "looked to me to be in agony, in pain". She was looking straight ahead "as if she had a crick in her neck". The witness said she knew there was something wrong.
She noticed something on the passenger seat of the car Ms Riney was driving. It hadn't a human face but it was definitely human, she said. It could have been the back of a smaller person.
She said she saw "a big bulk" in the back which looked like a tent. She watched the car in her wing mirror and it swerved to the wrong side of the road briefly before straightening up.
Ms Tuohy said a human head came up in the back seat and was between the two seats. She saw a man with dark hair. She said the car then sped off.
Ms Margaret Fahy of Woodford said she was driving on April 29th 1994 when she noticed a woman driving a car towards her. She noticed a particular expression on the woman's face, which was close to the windscreen and her mouth was moving "as if she wanted to speak to me and catch my attention".
She said the woman appeared distressed. Ms Fahy said she slowed and saluted the woman but the woman didn't return her salute.
Then she saw a man slouched in the back of the car, the witness said. At first his expression was wide eyed with surprise because it appeared the car was stopping and then he averted his eyes as the car didn't stop and he grinned. The woman driving the car speeded up and drove off, Ms Fahy said.
She said she later realised who the man was and went to Loughrea where the defendant was appearing in court. She recognised him as the man she had seen in the woman's car.
Mr Nigel Stoddard said he was driving near Eyrecourt about noon on April 30th. He saw a woman in a car looking distressed. There was a young child standing on the back seat.
He said the car was travelling quite slowly and he was in a hurry. As he passed he glimpsed the man driving it. He was in his 20s and had short dark hair. Mr Stoddard said the man's eyes had "a bitter, cross look". He could not recall if the car had number plates.
He later saw photographs of Mr O'Donnell and thought it was the man he had seen driving the car. He reported his suspicions to the gardai.
Mr Cathal Burns said he was driving a tractor three miles outside Eyrecourt when a car which belonged to Father Joe Walsh passed him and he recognised the driver as Mr O'Donnell. He could not remember the exact date but it was between 7-8 p.m. He said it was the day Father Walsh had not turned up for Mass.
He said there was something in the back of the car, which looked "a bit loaded". The back window was also blocked up.
Mr Eugene Murphy, a cab driver working in Limerick, said he was out walking about 6.45 p.m. on May 5th 1994 when he saw two men at a car. One was pushing it.
One of the men was from Limerick city and he knew him to see. There appeared to be trouble with the battery and the Limerick man was helping the other man.
The Limerick man left because he didn't like the actions or language of the driver who appeared to be very agitated, Mr Murphy said. He said the driver said he would be killed if he didn't get the car home.
Mr Murphy said he thought the driver had a Galway accent. He described him as about 25 years old, fit and well, of medium height with darkish hair and cultivated growth on his face and his eyes were "wild in his face".
Mr Murphy said he was later shown photographs and identified the man in the photographs as the man at the car. He pointed to the defendant as the man he identified.
During yesterday afternoon's evidence, Mr MacEntee requested a short adjournment, saying his client was in some discomfort. Mr Justice Lavan agreed and the court rose for 15 minutes.
When it resumed Garda Michael Martin of Loughrea Garda station said he went to a wooded area on April 30th 1994 on foot of a report and found the burned out shell of a Ford Fiesta car.
He wrote down a number from a plate on the engine. He returned the following day and wrote down the chassis number from a panel beside the driver's seat. It was the same as the one he had written down the previous day, he said. He said he had a doubt about one of the characters in the number and thought a number he thought was an eight could possibly be the letter B. He took the character down as an eight.
Garda Martin said he returned to the car the following Wednesday to check the number again. He said he was still doubtful about the same character.
The trial continues today before Mr Justice Lavan and the jury of six men and six women.