NADINE MURDER ACCUSED TOLD DRIVER: SHE WAS WITH MY FRIEND
Witness tells of how he found man staggering at side of road
A MAN accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend Nadine Lott told a motorist he had “killed my wife because she was with my friend” just hours after he attacked her, a trial has heard.
The jury also heard yesterday that Daniel Murtagh told a paramedic after crashing his car into a ditch in the early hours of the morning that he had killed his “girlfriend”.
The witness said: “In the back of the ambulance he was telling me how much he loved his girlfriend but they had a fight.”
Daniel Murtagh, of Melrose Grove, Bawnogue, Clondalkin, Dublin, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of his 30-year-old ex-partner Ms Lott at her apartment in St Mary’s Court, Arklow, Co Wicklow on December 17, 2019.
Giving evidence yesterday, another witness, John Begley, said he saw a car in a ditch as he was travelling over Bookies Bridge in Co Wicklow on the morning of December 14.
He initially thought “some guy” was out at their Christmas party and had crashed their car
When he saw that no one was in the car he continued driving on but then saw “a chap” standing on the side of the road at Laragh GAA pitch.
He said: “He was staggering, his legs weren’t moving. I presumed at the time that it was a guy who had a few drinks and had crashed his car.”
AGITATED
The man fell to the ground as Mr Begley drove by so he reversed and spoke to the man, who was lying on his stomach.
When gardai arrived at the scene, the witness said that Murtagh got very agitated. Mr Begley continued: “He then said to me, ‘You don’t know what I’ve done… I killed my wife’.
“I didn’t think anything of it. He said it a second time and said he hoped she was not dead. He said ‘she was with my friend’.”
Mr Begley told the jury that what the accused said to him the first time had “passed” him by but he was “taken aback” or “stunned” when he said it a second time and “thought something serious is going on here”.
Mr Begley also recalled Murtagh saying: “I hope she is not dead, tell my family I’m sorry.”
Paramedic Patrick Naugton testified that Murtagh told him “he had taken two valium at 10pm the day before and had been drinking”.
Under cross-examination the witness told the defence that Murtagh was confused throughout his dealings with him and was not able to inform him how his car had ended up in the ditch. He said he had killed his girlfriend “out of the blue”.
The trial continues.