One of the two boys accused of murdering Ana Kriégel asked a garda “are you joking me” when he told the youth the girl’s blood was found on his boots, the Central Criminal Court has heard.
Gardaí put it to the boy that the only way he could have the 14-year-old’s blood on his boots was if he was in the room when she was assaulted and asked him if he was in the room.
“No,” he replied.
The two accused, who are 14, cannot be named because they are minors. They have each pleaded not guilty to murdering Ana at Glenwood House, Laraghcon, Clonee Road, Lucan on May 14th, 2018. Boy A has also pleaded not guilty to a further charge of aggravated sexual assault on Ana in a manner that involved serious violence to her.
Det Garda Marcus Roantree told Brendan Grehan SC, prosecuting, that Boy A, his father and a solicitor came to Clondalkin Garda station on May 24th, 2018. He formally arrested Boy A at 8.07am on suspicion of Ana's murder.
The detective told Mr Grehan he was satisfied that Boy A understood the caution given to him before his interview and said gardaí went to great lengths to explain everything to him.
Det Garda Tomas Doyle told Gerardine Small BL, prosecuting, that he interviewed Boy A six times at Clondalkin Garda Station in the presence of the boy’s father and a solicitor.
Objection
In the first interview Boy A’s solicitor put on record his objection to the fact that material he had sought from gardaí was not made available and he was therefore unable to properly advise Boy A and his family.
Gardaí began by explaining to Boy A the definition of murder. When asked if he understood the difference between right and wrong, he said “leaving the door open for somebody” would be an example of right.
“Tripping somebody up is wrong,” he added.
He explained the difference between truth and lies by saying: “Truth is if you tell somebody what happened. A lie is if you don’t tell somebody what happened”.
Boy A told gardai that his interests included “anatomy, the human body” and he explained that he was interested in the “inner life, the skeleton”. He said his friends were not interested in that kind of thing.
Det Garda Doyle then read a statement Boy A had previously made in which he said he was attacked by two men in the park on the same day that Ana went missing. He said he suffered injuries including to his arms, back and legs after being grabbed from behind, knocked to the ground and kicked.
In his second interview on May 24th, Boy A told gardaí he had met Ana in the park on May 14th but said he was not with her in the lead up to to the time when she was reported missing by her parents that evening.
Gardaí then showed Boy A CCTV footage from that day and he identified himself and Boy B. Boy A said he had a bandage on his arm from a fall some weeks previously.
On another piece of CCTV footage taken nearby that evening, Boy A said he could see two males and added: “They look like the lads that beat me up on that day.”
Zoom
He asked gardaí to zoom in but they were unable to do so. Having viewed more footage he said: “That might be good news. I think that might be one of the males that beat me up. Is there any more footage?”
Gardaí then showed him footage of a male and female walking nearby on the same evening. He told them the female could be Ana but then added that he did not remember Ana having white patches on her leg.
He then agreed with gardaí when they suggested it was Ana. Gardai showed him footage taken at 4.58pm that evening which they said showed a male with a backpack not wearing gloves.
At 5.05pm they said a male with a backpack could be seen wearing gloves. Boy A said he could see that. They asked him if he thought they were the same person and he replied: “Do you think it’s the same backpack?”
Boy A’s solicitor then expressed a concern. Before Boy A left with his solicitor the garda told him: “Just to answer your question I do think it’s the same backpack.”
When Boy A returned Det Garda Doyle put it to him that forensic analysis showed Ana’s blood was on his boots. He replied: “Are you joking me?”
Garda Doyle replied: “No.”
The boy said: “Are you actually being serious about this?”
He asked to be allowed out to get air.
The interview continued with Det Garda Doyle saying: “I want to be clear, this is significant and serious.”
Boy A replied: “I’m aware.”
Tape
Gardai then showed Boy A some Tesco branded tape and asked him if he had ever been in possession of tape like that.
“No,” he replied.
He was then shown a black hoodie and said he thought Ana was wearing “something like that” when he met her on May 14th.
Gardaí said they believe the CCTV footage showed that the route Boy A told them he took on that day was not correct. They also asked him if there was anything else he wanted to tell them that would help their investigation.
“No, there’s nothing else,” he replied.
The garda continued: “What I’m saying to you is the only place you could have got the blood on your boots was in that room so were you in that room?”
“No,” he replied.
The garda then asked him if what he said in his statement on May 15th was the truth. He replied: “Yes. That’s the truth.”
Det Garda Doyle said gardaí had searched his home and found a backpack. Gardaí showed a photo of the backpack to Boy A and asked him if he had that bag with him in the park at any stage on the day he met Ana. He said he did not. He also denied that the male in the footage he was shown earlier on CCTV was him.
Proximity
Scientist John Hoade of Forensic Science Ireland earlier told Mr Grehan that blood on both of Boy A's boots matched that of Ana Kriégel. He added that the blood pattern indicated that: "[Boy A] either assaulted Anastasia Kriegel or was in very close proximity to Anastasia Kriegel when she was assaulted."
The scientist also examined a 92cm long by 4cm by 3cm stick with a nail or staple in both ends that was found near Ana’s body.
Showing the stick to the jury he pointed out that it was charred on one end and had blood stains along it with heavy blood staining on the charred end. This was, he said, transfer blood staining which results from contact with a blood bearing surface.
He described another area of blood staining as “percussive” explaining that such stains were caused when there is already blood on the stick and it is swung, impacting on a surface.
The DNA from that blood matched Ana’s, he said.
He added that the stains he saw on the stick were what he would expect to see if it was used as a weapon in the assault on Ana.
The trial continues.