Foreign student strangled two days after arrival, court told
A popular Swiss student was strangled to death just two days after she arrived in Ireland to learn English, a court heard today.
A used condom was found near the semi-naked body of the 17-year-old which allegedly linked murder suspect Gerald Barry to the scene.
Barry, aged 28, has pleaded not guilty to killing Manuela Riedo in Galway city on October 8, 2007.
But Barry, of Rosan Glas, Rahoon, today pleaded guilty to theft of a mobile phone and camera from the scene.
Ms Riedo’s middle-aged parents, Hans-Peter and Arlette Riedo, held hands as the prosecution opened the case at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin.
Counsel for the State, Isobel Kennedy SC, told the court the teenager was last seen alive when she left her host family on Renmore Park between 7pm and 8pm the day she was killed.
Her semi-naked body was discovered on waste ground at Lough Atalia the next morning by a man walking to work.
Senior gardaí were called to the scene, known locally as The Line, and forensic officers combed the area.
An interpreter translated for Ms Reido’s parents as officers told the court the top half of the teenager’s body was covered with a coat with a rock on top.
Clothes hung from the branches of nearby trees and a rucksack and purse were lying on the ground, they said.
“A used condom was found at the scene snagged on a bush near the body of the deceased,” continued Ms Kennedy.
“You will hear DNA was found within the contents of the condom that was found to be of the accused Gerald Barry.”
There will also be evidence from forensic officers that a mixed DNA profile on the outside of the condom belonged to the accused and the victim, she said.
Dr Denis Higgins, who pronounced Ms Reido dead at the scene shortly after 11am, said the teenager had an abrasion to the left side of her head and bruising on her lower neck region. Riga mortis had not yet set in, he added.
A post mortem examination by state pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy revealed Ms Riedo died from asphyxia due to neck compression, added Ms Kennedy.
Ms Reido was among a group of 43 pupils and two teachers who arrived in Galway on Saturday October 6 for a two-week break.
The teenager attended class on the Monday morning and was due to meet the group that evening in a city centre pub but failed to show up.
Ms Reido was reported missing when she did not attend class the next morning.
Teacher Kimberly Kremer-Bertschy said she was shown a photograph of a young female and confirmed it was the body of her missing student.
Ms Riedo’s aunt, two teachers and a school friend have travelled to Dublin for the trial.
Ms Kennedy said when gardaí searched the suspect’s home a camera was found in his bedroom.
An identification number on a mobile phone, which the accused is alleged to have sold to another man before being passed on to gardaí, could be traced back to the victim, she added.
Ms Kennedy said cell site analysis would also prove a mobile phone belonging to the accused was used where Ms Riedo’s body was found.
The case, which is being heard by Mr Justice Barry White, is expected to last two and a half weeks.
