The brother of a woman accused of murdering a pensioner whose body went over Ireland’s highest cliffs has told the Central Criminal Court that he was concerned that his sister was not taking her medication and appeared to be drinking during the day in the lead up to the alleged offence.
Alan Vial (39) of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, Co Donegal and Nikita Burns (23) of Carrick, Co Donegal, have both pleaded not guilty to the murder of 66-year-old Robert ‘Robin’ Wilkin in Donegal on June 25, 2023.
Ruben Burns on Thursday told prosecution counsel Bernard Condon SC that within days of the alleged murder, he received a message from his older sister Nikita on Snapchat saying: “Alan killed someone and I was in the car at the time.”
She said they had been drunk and “Alan smashed his head in” and that the deceased’s body is missing.
Mr Burns asked if she was “involved enough to get put away”. She said she was, that she had helped to clean the car in which the assault happened and that she had told a friend over the phone that she “hit him with the rock and dumped the body”. She said her friend recorded the conversation but she, Ms Burns, was “off my head when I said it”.
She said she had been afraid “of what Alan would do to me if I didn’t help him clean” and that she could “get up to ten years”. She added: “I couldn’t have stopped him, he’s too strong.”
Mr Burns told Eoin Lawlor SC, for Nikita Burns, that his sister suffered “lots of mental health difficulties” throughout her life and is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety.
They had been close as children but when he was 14, he moved to Drogheda while his sister remained in Donegal. They were in regular contact again in 2023 and he knew that prior to that, she had never really worked, had been homeless and spent time in psychiatric units.
One week prior to the alleged murder, she sent her brother a picture showing her working with Mr Vial and an older man. He added: “She described herself as “doing better” because she was off her medication, which to me was worrying.” He said he had a further concern that she appeared to be drinking during the day.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott told the jury that the prosecution case will finish today before the trial proceeds to the next phase.
The trial has heard that Mr Wilkin’s body was recovered from the sea at the bottom of Sliabh Liag eight days after he went missing. State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster said that due to the fall down the cliff and the length of time the body spent in the water, she could not identify a cause of death. However, she did find two depressed fractures to the back of Mr Wilkin’s skull that were not in keeping with the injuries caused by the fall.
She concluded that those fractures were caused by a blunt weapon. A rock found at the top of Sliabh Liag that was stained with blood and contained hair with DNA that matched Mr Wilkin’s was consistent with the weapon that caused those injuries, she said.
Earlier on Thursday, Det Gda Patrick Farrell went over memos of interviews given by Mr Vial following his second arrest on suspicion of Mr Wilkin’s murder in July 2023. Det Gda Farrell told Emmet Nolan BL, for the prosecution, that Mr Vial denied murdering Mr Wilkin and denied being jealous or resentful of him.
He said that when he left Mr Wilkin following a fight in the early hours of the morning at the top of Sliabh Liag, the pensioner was alive and breathing. He further denied stealing money from the deceased and said he didn’t know what happened to a €1,000 cash payment that Mr Wilkin had received earlier that day for a job he had done.
The trial continues before Mr Justice McDermott and a jury of seven women and five men.
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