Neighbour saw accused in back of car, court told
A man accused killing his wife 10 years ago was seen sitting in the back of the car by a neighbour shortly before she was found strangled to death, the Central Criminal Court heard today.
John Diver, Kilnamanagh Road, Walkinstown, Dublin denies murdering his wife Geraldine (aged 42) at Robinhood Road, Clondalkin on December 2 1996.
Ms Diver was found, with a tie around her neck, in the front seat of her car outside Buckley’s builders' providers around 10.40pm on December 2.
At the Central Criminal Court today Paul Maher, who is a neighbour of the Divers', said that on the night in question he saw John Diver sitting in the back of the car while his wife Geraldine was driving the vehicle.
Maher was giving evidence on the fourth day of the trial.
He told the court that on the night in question, he and a friend were talking at the T-junction between Walkinstown Drive and Kilnamanagh Road when the Divers' car approached.
Maher, who was then 15 years old, said that the car stopped at the junction “for a few seconds”, before moving on.
Geraldine was in the driver’s seat, and her husband John “was in the rear passenger seat”, directly behind her.
“I thought that this was very unusual,” Maher said, as there “was nobody in the front passenger seat”, he added.
Maher said he got a good look into the car, as the area was well lit, and that he made “eye contact” with Mrs Diver.
Maher added that John Diver was wearing “a light grey suit jacket, and glasses”.
In reply to counsel for the prosecution, Mr Edward Comyn SC, Maher said the car passed by at approximately 9.25pm that night.
A few minutes after he got home, which was a short distance away, the RTE TV news was just ending, and the weather forecast came on.
He said he knew the family to see, and his immediate neighbours the Grimes were Geraldine Diver's parents.
He saw Geraldine Diver “practically everyday”, and her husband John quite regularly.
Under cross-examination from defence Counsel Mr Brendan Grehan SC Maher said that he was certain he saw the Diver car pass by at 9.25pm that night.
This was despite the fact, according to Mr Grehan, that there was video footage showing Mrs Diver leaving work that night at the same time.
Maher also denied that at the time he was “the ringleader of a group of youths who had caused trouble in the area”, nor could he recall a garda speaking to him about any complaints made by his neighbours.
Maher said that he vaguely recalled an incident when the accused gave out to him and his friends, because Diver thought they were laughing at him.
“I never had any direct dealings with the man,” he added.
Mark Sharkey, who was with Paul Maher at the time, said in response to prosecution counsel Mr Shane Murphy SC that he remembered the Divers' car pass by them that night.
He observed Geraldine Diver, whom he knew to see, in the front of the car, but he could not make out who was in the back of the vehicle.
All he could see was a figure of a person, but was not sure if it was “a man or a women.”
Sharkey, who was 14 years old at the time, estimated that the car passed them at 9.35pm that night.
In reply to Mr Grehan, Sharkey agreed that he did not mention seeing a figure in the back in the car when he made his initial statement to gardaí.
In a second statement, after “he had a good think about it”, said he was sure he saw a person sitting behind Mrs Diver.
He denied “being influenced” by anything said to him by Paul Maher after he made his first statement.
Paul Maher’s father John Maher said that he remembered his son being in their house after the news just ended.
He remembered gardaí coming to the house following complaints about his son and other youths playing football in the street.
He said that there were a few neighbours who had made complaints, and not just Mrs Diver.
The case, which is being heard by Mr Justice Philip O'Sullivan, continues.
