by Eoin Reynolds
A murder accused who has claimed that it was his former lover and co-accused who beat 66-year-old Robert ‘Robin’ Wilkin to death with a rock – and that she helped put his body over Ireland’s tallest cliffs – has denied lying in the hopes of escaping responsibility for what he did.
Alan Vial (39), on his second day of cross-examination at the Central Criminal Court, denied striking Mr Wilkin five or six times on the head with a rock. Mr Vial insisted he was telling the truth when he said that his co-accused Nikita Burns (23) caused Mr Wilkin’s death by twice striking him on the back of the head with a rock and that he did not strike the deceased at all.
Ms Burns’ defence counsel Eoin Lawlor SC put it to Mr Vial that he had “come to court and told lies about Ms Burns’ involvement in the killing that you committed, in the hopes of escaping responsibility for what you have done.”
Mr Vial replied: “Incorrect.”
Mr Vial of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, Co Donegal and Ms Burns of Carrick, Co Donegal, have both pleaded not guilty to the murder of Robert ‘Robin’ Wilkin in Donegal on June 25, 2023.
In his evidence to the court this week, Mr Vial has said that he did not know Ms Burns was going to use a rock to strike Mr Wilkin and did not ask her or want her to hit him. He said he did not want Mr Wilkin, who he described as his friend, to die.
Under cross-examination from prosecution counsel Bernard Condon SC, Mr Vial today (WED) accepted that he had “fabricated” a story for gardai when interviewed in 2023 about Mr Wilkin’s death. He said that what really happened is that Mr Wilkin was driving in an area known as Roshine with Mr Vial in the back seat and Ms Burns in the passenger seat. It was late at night following a day of heavy drinking and an argument broke out which prompted Mr Wilkin to pull in and tell Mr Vial and Ms Burns to get out of the car.
When Mr Vial refused, he said Mr Wilkin turned around in his seat and punched him five or six times in the face. Mr Vial said he did not hit back but grabbed Mr Wilkin’s wrists to prevent further blows.
It was then, he alleged, that Ms Burns appeared at the passenger side front door and twice struck Mr Wilkin in the back of the head with a rock, causing him to stop breathing.
He said he then drove to Sliabh Liag with Ms Burns in the passenger seat and the top half of Mr Wilkin’s body lying on the back seat and his legs hanging over the centre console.
Mr Vial accepted that he had lied to gardai during 20 hours of interviews during which he described fighting Mr Wilkin at Sliabh but insisted he was alive and breathing when he, Mr Vial, drove off.
Mr Vial denied that he is lying now when he says that he did not strike Mr Wilkin at any point.
The accused rejected a further suggestion that he lied when he said that he knew Mr Wilkin was dead from two blows to the back of the head delivered by Ms Burns. Mr Condon added: “You took over with the rock and continued beating him with the rock on the head. An angry man like you, full of drink and you hit him many times, and that’s how there was blood all over your car.”
The accused replied: “No.”
He said he didn’t call gardai because he was “protecting Nikita” and denied that he was protecting himself. He said they threw Mr Wilkin over the cliff “to dispose of the body, to help clean up the mess”. He said he couldn’t remember the discussion between himself and Ms Burns for the ten minutes they spent at Roshine after Mr Wilkin had died or in the car on the way to Sliabh Liag.
He denied removing Mr Wilkin’s jumper, which was found by searchers half way down the cliffs, and said he had nothing to do with disposing of the deceased’s glasses, neck chain or a heavily bloodstained blanket which had been in the back seat of the car.
He said he didn’t know what happened to Mr Wilkin’s dog, a Jack Russell cross named Pip, but thought Ms Burns had let him out of the car at Roshine after Mr Wilkin’s death. He accepted that he waded into the sea at Teelin Pier to wash blood from his clothes but rejected Mr Condon’s suggestion that this was the act of a “killer taking extraordinary steps” to destroy evidence.
Mr Condon put it to the accused that he is dishonest when it suits him. “I have told lies to the guards,” Mr Vial replied.
Mr Condon suggested that Mr Vial was not prepared to tell the jury the full truth. He suggested that Mr Vial had a “big part” in hitting and killing Robert Wilkin and that he disposed of the body “cruelly and calculatedly and cleaned yourself because you knew you had killed him. This is your last chance to tell the truth.”
“I didn’t kill him,” Mr Vial replied.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott told the jury of seven women and five men to return to court on Friday.
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