Garda denies showing 'murder suspect' post mortem photos
A detective garda today denied showing gruesome photographs of a dead man in a morgue to a wrongly-arrested suspect in a murder case.
Det Garda Martin Anderson was one of several officers to interrogate Martin McCallion at Letterkenny garda station in December 1996.
The then part-time doorman was arrested for being an accessory to the murder of Donegal cattle dealer Richie Barron, who was later found to have died in a hit-and-run collision.
Tony Barr, senior counsel for the Morris Tribunal, put it to Det Garda Anderson that he showed photographs of Mr Barron following a post-mortem examination to secure a confession that he had allowed two main suspects into the bar where he worked to get cleaned up after the alleged crime.
“Now, you’re asking me did I show him photographs there – I did not. I wouldn’t show anybody photographs. I assure you I wouldn’t and neither would my colleague (Sergeant Padraic Scanlon),” he said.
“The only thing that was brought into the interview room was half-sheets (for notes).”
Mr McCallion was able to give a fairly accurate description of the post-mortem photographs and of a damaged car included in a book of evidence during his submission to the tribunal, said Mr Barr.
He asked Det Garda Anderson why he was so sure he wouldn’t show photographs to a suspect.
“Because it is distressing, and as a result people may make admissions and they can be inadmissible later on in court. I wouldn’t do it,” he replied.
He said he was unaware, until revelations during the last couple of weeks in the tribunal, that the same photographs were shown to a number of people detained during the investigation.
Four gardaí have already confessed photographs were shown to detainees.
“Are you saying that they were operating independently of each other, unknown to each other and unknown to the rest of the investigation team?” Mr Barr asked.
Det Garda Anderson replied that he didn’t know anything about it and had never heard any instruction from any of the officers to use the photographs to “shake up” detainees.
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