Ana Kriégel’s phone had a function which allowed her parents to see where she was at all times but this was disabled at the time of her alleged murder.
Her father Patric Kriégel told the Central Criminal Court today that he last saw his 14-year-old daughter at 5pm on May 14th, 2018, as she was leaving the house in the company of one of the boys accused of her murder.
This boy, Boy B, had “whispered” with Ana at the door after which Ana told her father she was going out. She said she wouldn’t be long.
“I believe she meant it. I knew from the way she was saying it that she meant exactly that,” said Mr Kriégel. “She was happy when she left. She gave me a big smile.”
After she left, her father realised he forgot to ask her where she was going. He followed her out and saw her walking down the street in the company of Boy B. It was clear they weren’t speaking to each other as Boy B was walking ahead of Ana, Mr Kriégel told prosecution counsel Brendan Grehan SC.
He said when Ana’s mother Geraldine came home from work 20 minutes later she became immediately concerned and asked “what the hell is she doing with [BOY B]”.
It is the prosecution case that Boy B lured Ana from her home on the pretence of meeting his best friend, Boy A, who Ana was “interested” in. Boy A then allegedly violently sexually assaulted and murdered her in a derelict farmhouse as Boy B watched.
Boy A has pleaded has not guilty to the murder and sexual assault "involving serious violence" of Ms Kriégel on May 14th, 2018 at Glenwood House, Laraghcon, Clonee Road, Lucan in Dublin.
Boy B has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms Kriégel on the same date.
The accused, who are both aged 14 but were 13 at the time of the alleged murder, cannot be identified due to their age. Their trial at the Central Criminal Court is expected to last up to six weeks.
Mr Kriégel said Ana had a tough time in secondary school. She was bullied and people called her weird. Her father said she was “full of fun” but people didn’t understand her.
She couldn’t hate anyone, even the people bullying her, he said. Instead, she was disappointed with people. She tried to make friends but would end up saying the wrong thing, “She was a teenager,” he added.
Her father said she “felt invisible” and engaged in attention-seeking behaviour.
At one stage she had set up social media accounts in fake names which she used to “bully herself,” he said. These were shut down when her school found out she was behind them. After this, her mother insisted on checking her phone on a nightly basis.
Mr Kriégel said Ana loved to go for long walks and listen to music. He didn’t mind her doing this as he could see where she was at any stage through the “Find my iPhone” app.
However sometime before her murder Ana had left the “family sharing group” on her phone, meaning her parents could no longer see her location.
‘Immediately concerned’
Earlier today Ana’s mother gave evidence that she was “immediately concerned” when she learned her daughter had left the house in the company of Boy B.
Ms Kriégel said she said she was worried because “nobody ever called for Ana” and she had no reason to hang around with this boy.
She texted Ana “home now” but got no reply. An earlier call, just after 5pm, had gone to voicemail.
After discussing the matter with her husband, Ms Kriégel again texted Ana telling her to come home or else she’d call the police.
She told Mr Grehan she did this “to get her attention.” There was no response. Ms Kriégel then went searching for Ana in the local area but couldn’t find her.
Phone records would later show Ana’s was last active on the WhatsApp messaging service at 5.13pm. The last call from her phone was at 5.20pm and was to CIE where her mother worked.
Ms Kriégel said she had last seen Ana that morning when she kissed her goodbye before going to work.
At 4.02 and 4.03pm that afternoon she received missed calls from Ana but couldn’t answer because she was in a meeting. This was not unusual, she said. Ana would call “all the time. We were always in touch”.
Ms Kriégel said she texted Ana to say she’d call back shortly. She called Ana from the train at about 5.10pm but there was no answer. She didn’t leave a message as she knew she would be seeing her soon.
After being told Ana has left with Boy B at 5pm she went out looking for her briefly. After dinner she and the rest of the family continued looking for her without success.
They also looked up Facebook to find the surname of Boy B.
That evening they went to a friend who is a retired detective for advice. He told them to go to the gardaí. They went straight from his house to Leixlip Garda Station, arriving there at 9pm.
She told gardaí “Ana was a communicator”; she would always answer her phone even if she was angry. “She would answer the phone to tell you she wasn’t talking to you,” Ms Kriégel said.
Ana didn’t have her passport and hadn’t eaten, her mother said.
Gardaí then went to Boy B’s home.
Ms Kriégel and her family got up at 5am the next day to start searching again. They also gave Garda permission to broadcast an alert about the disappearance.
Later that day, while out searching, she saw gardaí in the park in the company of Boy B and another boy she didn’t recognise. This boy was “limping really badly,” Ms Kriégel said.
On Wednesday, May 17th, three days after Ana went missing, a garda family liaison officer contacted Ms Kriégel and said a young girl’s body had been found in an abandoned house.
The next day the family went to Dublin City Mortuary and identified the body as belonging to Ana, her mother said.
Under cross-examination from Patrick Gageby SC, representing Boy A, Ms Kriégel said she was not aware Ana previously made a video with a friend in an abandoned house.
She agreed Ana could get angry sometimes and would throw pillows or punch furniture but said this didn’t cause her major concern. She denied Ana was “impulsive”.
Ms Kriégel also confirmed that she had found a condom under Ana’s pillow a week before she went missing.
The trial continued on Wednesday afternoon before a jury of eight men and four women.
