The jury in the trial of the man accused of murdering Kilbeggan horse trader Christy Hanley has heard how the pensioner was found dead in his home having been tied up and beaten.
Mr Hanley “seemed to have been beaten about the head and face”, which “could have been caused by blows, punches and kicks”, according to Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis.
The trial of 47-year-old Noel Cawley, of no fixed abode, resumed in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday [Thursday], following a day of legal argument in the absence of the jury on Wednesday.
Noel Cawley, 47, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Hanley on May 21 2008, and also to robbing him of an unknown amount of money on the same date.
Christy Hanley, who was well-known locally as a horse breeder and trader, was found dead in his home on Bridge Street, Kilbeggan on May 22 last year.
Garda Enda Kenny told the court that he had been working in Tullamore Garda station the day after the alleged murder, and received a phonecall between 8.55am and 9am. A male caller said that Christy Hanley was tied up in his house in Kilbeggan, and then the caller hung up.
Investigations manager at eircom, Michael Finnerty, said that records show that a connection was made at 8.54am on May 22 from a payphone on Abbey Street in Dublin to Tullamore Garda station.
The court also heard how a man carrying a bulk of €50 notes bought a suit, shirt, tie, and pair of shoes in Debenhams at Henry Street, Dublin the day after the alleged murder.
He paid in cash, and wore the clothes that he purchased and put his old clothes in a Debenhams bag before he left.
Extensive use was also made of CCTV footage, placing a man wearing a navy baseball cap and jeans and carrying a backpack at various locations in Kilbeggan, Mullingar, and Dublin.
