A rock weighing 3.5 kilograms that was found at the top of Ireland’s tallest cliffs contained hundreds of hairs and was heavily bloodstained with DNA matching that of a pensioner who had his skull broken in and was allegedly thrown into the sea, a jury has heard.
Dr Conor Young of Forensic Science Ireland (FSI) on Tuesday told the trial of Alan Vial (39) and Nikita Burns (23) that the blood staining could be explained by direct contact between the rock and the deceased man Robert ‘Robin’ Wilkin (66) or by contact with a surface that was heavily stained with his blood.
The trial also heard from Det Gda Jeanette O’Neill, a ballistics expert with the Garda Technical Bureau, who told Bernard Condon SC for the prosecution that she found the rock on the edge of the Sliabh Liag cliffs near a viewing point used by tourists.
Nearby were other items including a man’s reading glasses, a silver chain with a broken clasp and a five cent coin.
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Further down the cliff, Det Gda O’Neill found a frame from the rearview mirror of a car which appeared to have a blood swipe on it. Garda searchers also recovered a heavily bloodstained blanket and a man’s Ravel wristwatch. Inside a Volkswagen Passat in which the prosecution alleges the assault on Mr Wilkin happened, Det Gda O’Neill found blood spatter on the roof, on the rear passenger window and the rear window. From the pattern of the blood spatter, she concluded that the assailant may have sat in the front passenger seat when the assault took place.
However, Det Gda O’Neill agreed with Eoin Lawlor SC, for Ms Burns, that if Mr Wilkin’s head had been in the area of the car’s centre console, it would be reasonably possible that a rock brought down from the driver’s side would have caused the spatter observed on the roof and window.
Det Gda O’Neill told Shane Costelloe SC, for Mr Vial, that she is aware that a pathologist has concluded that the bloodstained rock was “entirely consistent” with having caused two fractures found to the back of Mr Wilkin’s skull.
Det Gda O’Neill agreed that had a person in the driver’s seat been fighting with the deceased in the back seat, it would have been possible for someone else to come in from behind with the rock and hit the deceased in the back of the head, causing the spatter patterns observed.
Dr Young told Mr Condon that he analysed the blood found on the rock, the roof of the Passat, and part of the back car seat. In each case the DNA matched that of Robert Wilkin. The blood on the roof, he said, indicated that force was applied to the blood of Mr Wilkin in this area. The saturation staining on the car seat, he said, indicated that Mr Wilkin bled heavily in this location.
The irregular shaped rock measured about 20cm by 20cm with a depth of 9cm and weighed about 3.5 kilograms. It was heavily bloodstained with “transfer stains” indicating contact with a blood bearing surface.
Dr Young also examined a pair of blue leggings that the prosecution alleges Ms Burns was wearing when Mr Wilkin was assaulted. Dr Young found DNA matching that of Mr Wilkin from a blood stain on the lower part of the right leg. The sole of one of a pair of Timberland boots that the prosecution alleges belong to Mr Vial had bloodstains which generated DNA profiles matching that of Mr Wilkin.
Samples taken from inside and outside a vacuum cleaner that the prosecution alleges was used to clean the Volkswagen, tested positive for blood. However, Dr Young said the samples provided insufficient DNA to generate a profile.
A brother of Mr Vial has testified that after the alleged murder, the accused man borrowed a vacuum to clean his car and when it was returned, it was “full of gunk” which the witness assumed was “red wine vomit”.
Nikita Burns of Carrick, Co Donegal and Mr Vial, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, Co Donegal have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Robert ‘Robin’ Wilkin on June 25th, 2023 in Donegal. Mr Wilkin’s body was found by the Irish Coastguard in the sea eight days after it is alleged the two accused put him over the Sliabh Liag cliffs.
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