Earley told gardaí he met Sandra on evening she disappeared

ACCUSED?Martin Earley, who is accused of the murder of Sandra Collins, leaving Castlebar Court.?Pic: Keith Heneghan/Phocus

Earley told gardaí he met Sandra on evening she disappeared


Conflicting evidence on accused’s meetings with Sandra Collins before her disappearance

Castlebar
Anton McNulty

The man accused of murdering Sandra Collins told gardaí he met with her on the evening she disappeared but denied murdering her, the Central Criminal Court sitting in Castlebar heard.
The fourth week of the trial of Martin Earley heard more conflicting evidence from the accused during the period he was arrested and detained in connection with the murder in 2011.
Mr Earley (50) of Bannagher, Carrowmore-Lacken, Ballina was arrested at his home on March 24, 2011 and brought to Ballina Garda Station where he was questioned over two days.
During questioning, he admitted to Detective Garda Eddie Naughton and Detective Garda Pat Ruane that he met Ms Collins on the night she disappeared but denied murdering her. However, when he was arrested on December 20, 2011 he claimed he lied when he earlier said he had sex with Ms Collins and that she had asked him for money to terminate her pregnancy.
Ms Collins of 8 Courthouse Street, Killala disappeared on December 4, 2000 after she was last seen leaving a takeaway in Killala, and there has been no sighting of her since and no body has been recovered.
Earley, a plaster by trade, also denied murdering Ms Collins, telling gardaí, ‘I have a clear conscience, I didn’t kill anyone’.
Last week, evidence was given by a number of detectives who questioned Mr Earley over two days following his arrest on March 24, 2011. A statement taken by Detective Garda Eddie Naughton on March 25, 2011, was read in court and in it Mr Earley claimed he met Ms Collins on December 4, 2000 at 7.30pm in the carpark of the Centra supermarket in Killala. He told the gardaí he was in his wife’s car and spoke to her for only ten minutes.
When Det Garda Naughton put it to him that he was the last person to see Ms Collins alive he replied, “total lies, bullshit.”
When pressed by the interviewing gardaí, he denied having anything to do with her disappearance.
“Did you hit Sandra Collins?” asked Det Garda Naughton. “No,” replied Earley.
“Did you choke her?”
“God forgive you,” Mr Early answered.
“Did she hit her head?”
“No.”
“Did you bring her body somewhere?”
“No.”
When it was put to Mr Earley that he was the father of Ms Collins unborn child and he killed her, he answered, ‘I did no such thing’.
When questioned by Detective Sergeant Gerry Lee on the same afternoon, the court heard Mr Earley outlined again that he met Ms Collins on the night she disappeared. He said she did not get into the car and also said that she ‘fobbed me off’.
Mr Earley was arrested on December 20, 2011 after returning to Mayo from England and again interviewed by Det Sgt Lee, and on this occasion denied being in Killala on the night Ms Collins disappeared and claimed he was feeding cattle.
He told the interviewing gardaí that he told lies because he panicked and he was afraid of losing his wife and children.
The trial had earlier heard evidence that Mr Earley had told Gardaí in 2001 that he had sex with Ms Collins on at least two occasions. When questioned by retired Detective Sergeant John Melody on June 28, 2001 he revealed he had sexual intercourse with Ms Collins in his Hiace van in November 2000 after meeting her in the Golden Acres Pub in Killala.
On December 1, 2000 he said they were having sex when Ms Collins asked him to stop and seemed nervous and tense but would not say what was on her mind. The trial had earlier heard evidence that Ms Collins had discovered she was pregnant earlier on December 1.
However, when questioned by Det Sgt Lee on December 20, 2011, he claimed the statement he had sex with Sandra Collins was ‘all lies’ and that he made the statement while ‘under duress’. Gardaí rejected the claim they put Mr Earley under pressure during questioning.
The trial heard that Mr Earley also denied dictating an anonymous letter to a neighbour Denise Mahedy. The letter, to gardaí, implicated another man in the disappearance. The court heard evidence from a handwriting expert that Ms Mahedy did write the letter and that the letter was written on a notepad found in Ms Mahedy’s flat.
Ms Mahedy claimed that Mr Earley came to her flat in Ballina and brought the notepad and asked her to write the letter. He denied this, telling gardaí ‘she’s a woman I wouldn’t trust’.
The trial continues today (Tuesday) before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and is expected to continue for at least another week.