The Circuit Criminal Court has heard the closing arguments in the murder trial of 66-year-old Robert Wilkin whose body was found in the sea at the foot of the Slieve League cliffs in County Donegal in June 2023.
A man and a woman, Alan Vial, 39, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, County Donegal, and Nikita Burns, 23, from An Charraig, County Donegal, both deny the murder of Wilkin, who also went by Robin, on 25 June 2023.
The case is being heard before Mr. Justice Paul McDermott.
Vial Claims that Burns murdered Wilkin by striking him on the head with a rock before his body was thrown down a cliff, landing in the sea.
He claims that he was driven by his feelings for his co-accused to assist her in covering up the murder by helping her to dispose of Wilkin’s body, however Burns denies this version of events.
Burns previously made admissions to striking Wilkin on the head with a rock, but later claimed that she was not directly involved in taking his life.
Counsel for Burns, Eoin Lawlor SC, argues that she was not directly involved in the murder of the victim although she admits helping Vial to clean the car after the incident.
Vial claims there was a fight between him and Wilkin in a car – in which all three were travelling – between Killybegs and Slieve League after they had been drinking heavily in various pubs.
Vial claimed that the deceased punched him three to four times in the face before he grabbed him by his wrists.
After this, he claimed, Burns had appeared at the passenger side where she struck Wilkin on the back of the head with a rock.
Counsel for Burns argued that Vial was “lying” about this account of events- which Vial denies – and that blood spatter patterns found in the vehicle were not consistent with his account and that his claim that a mirror on the car had been smashed as Burns drew back the rock before striking the victim was not consistent with her being right handed.
Lawlor argued that the evidence before the courts did not support the claim that Burns had killed Wilkin or that she and Vial had agreed to end the man’s life.
The court heard that Vial had “lied” to Gardaí about the clothing he had been wearing on the night of the murder and that this had been established by CCTV evidence from the pubs he had visited that day.
The court also heard that Vial had given Gardaí a “false account” of having gone to see the sunset on that evening when CCTV relieved that he was still at a pub in Donegal at 1:26am.
The defence argued that there was “no tension or difficulty” between Burns and the victim and that she could be seen giving him “a kiss on the cheek and a hug”.
It was argued that during their time at McIntyre’s Pub, the publican – Mr. McIntyre – had seen Wilkins “wrap” Burns on hand or arm when telling a story prompting him to tell Wilkin “not to hit a lady” .
The court heard that Burns had attempted to order a triple vodka at the bar but was refused as it is against the bar’s policy. It was accepted that Burns was “drinking heavily” and was “intoxicated on the night”.
The court heard that on several occasions prior to the night of Wilkin’s death, he had lost his temper and “abused” Vale. One of these occasions was in relation to the purchase of a digger where Wilkin had treated Vial“appallingly”, the defence argued.
It was argued that on the night of his death Wilkin “was annoyed” that Vial was drinking at the Fleet Inn and had “lied” to him that he had informed Gardaí about what he was doing and that Vial, “a troublesome drunk”, had believed this account.
Footage from Mack’s bar showed the pair in the smoking area where Vial sat with his back to Wilkin and did not make gestures to welcome him into a conversation he was having with other patrons.
The court heard that some of the patrons had said something that caused Burns upset and that Wilkin had appeared to have been “chivalrous” and confronted the men, leading them to apologise to Burns while Vial appeared not to become involved.
The defence argued that this “chivalry” had “caused tension” between Vial and Wilkins and that this had erupted later in the car.
It was argued that when the anger “erupted” in the car, Wilkin had stopped the vehicle and at this point he was struck in the head with a rock 5 or 7 times.
The court heard that forensic evidence in the case had been limited as the body was in the water for eight days before being discovered and that the fall from the cliff had made it somewhat unclear which injuries had been sustained postmortem.
State pathologist Dr. Margaret Bolster, giving forensic evidence earlier in the case, said that the “clear” evidence was not inconsistent with accounts given by Burns of the blows to head Wilkin had sustained.
The defence argued that Dr. Bolster was “very careful not to speculate” but that this was “inconsistent from Vial’s account” of Burnes striking the blows.
The court heard that Wilkin would not have died instantly, but would have carried on bleeding for 10-15 minutes according to Dr. Bolster.
The court heard that Vial had gone to a pier and attempted to “obliterate evidence” from his clothing but that in the course of this he had not asked Burns to get in the water.
His clothing had “clearly been washed to obliterate evidence”.
The defence said this suggested that there was no need for Burns to tamper with evidence from her own clothing as she was not directly involved in Wilkin’s death.
While DNA evidence was found on leggins Burns had been wearing at the time the defence argued that this could have come about when she was assisting Vial in cleaning the car, and not necessary when Wilkin was killed.
The court also heard that no evidence in regards to the top Burns had been wearing had been submitted to the court although the garment had been available to Gardaí.
After lunch, Lawlor continued giving evidence saying that although Burns had made admissions to hitting Wilkin in the back of the head that these had been made when she was in a state of intoxication and were done in efforts to save Vial from facing the law.
He argued that she had a difficult past, had issues with homelessness and her mental health, and that the age and education gap between her and Vial meant she was likely easily influenced by him.
Lawlor said that when the pair were picked up by Gardaí after crashing the car involved in the murder of Wilkins she had continued to consume alcohol at the side of the road where she had vomited and had dropped her phone on numerous occasions.
He said that the pair had lied that Burns was pregnant at the scene of the crash and that she had become “uncooperative and erratic” with paramedic after she was told that Vial would not be accompanying her to Letterkenny Hospital as he had become “aggressive” towards Gardaí who had arrived on the scene, necessitating the use of pepper spray.
He said that Vial was a “sophisticated” and “excellent” liar and that his version of events had evolved over the course of the proceedings.
The case will continue tomorrow.