A murder trial has heard that a Glock pistol was used in the shooting dead of rugby player Shane Geoghegan in Limerick four and a half years ago.
A ballistics expert gave the evidence to the Special Criminal Court today in the trial of the 30-year-old Limerick man charged with murdering the Garryowen player.
John Dundon of Hyde Road in the city has pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Geoghegan at Clonmore, Kilteragh, Dooradoyle, Limerick on November 9th, 2008.
The prosecution allege that the 28-year-old was the unintended victim of a shooting meant for another man, who lived near the deceased. It alleges that Mr Dundon ordered the killing of the actual target, a man named John McNamara.
Detective Garda Mark Collender testified today that he examined a number of discharged and undischarged rounds of ammunition from the murder scene. He also examined two bullets recovered from the victim’s body and a bullet jacket and lead core taken from his head.
He said the two undischarged or live rounds of ammunition found on a footpath in Clonmore were 9mm parabellum. They had been ejected manually and bore chamber markings indicating that they had been in a Glock pistol.
He also found a number of discharged cartridge cases in the area.
“Their distribution indicated that the firer was moving towards where Mr Geoghegan was found,” he said.
He said a bullet had gone through the window of one of the houses on the street and he retrieved it from the windowsill inside. He also found a disintegrated bullet in the wheel of a parked car.
He said that all eight discharged cartridge cases recovered had been in the same Glock semi-automatic pistol as the live rounds. He explained that this weapon was never recovered.
Det Gda Collender agreed with Brendan Nix SC, defending, that the gun had been used before. He said it had been used in a shooting in Limerick on October 12, 2008.
The three-judge, non-jury court has already heard that Mr Geoghegan was shot as he returned home to his girlfriend that morning, after watching a match in a friend’s house nearby. He died at the scene.
The trial is due to hear from the chief prosecution witness tomorrow. April Collins is expected to tell the court that Mr Dundon order the killing of John McNamara.
The trial continues with Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns presiding.