Jennings case reaching conclusion
A jury in the Central Criminal Court was told today that the lies told by the accused man are not proof of his guilt.
Counsel made their closing arguments on the ninth day of the trial of 61-year-old Scottish man Samuel Jennings, who is accused of murdering a loan company agent for the money she was due to lodge in the bank.
Jennings, formerly of Ashtown, Kilmacthomas, Co Waterford, denies the murder of 54-year-old Mamie Walsh, of Glendalligan, Kilrossanty, Co Waterford between August 30 2004 and September 1 2004.
Mrs Walsh’s body was found in the boot of her car covered in a blood stained sheet on August 31 2004.
She had been severely beaten around the head. Her blood was found in the hallway of Jennings’ rented house and a heavily bloodstained piece of carpet was found in searches of the surrounding garden.
The court had previously heard that Jennings had told his wife that he panicked and moved the body after finding it in the house.
Jennings denies suggestions that he had been due to meet Mrs Walsh at 9am on the morning of her disappearance. A yellow Post It note with details of such a meeting was found in her bag on discovery of her body.
The jury had heard that Jennings had been heavily in debt, but on the morning of August 30 he made lodgements to both his own account and that of his landlord.
Jennings told gardaí that the money had come from savings he kept in the house.
Prosecution counsel, Mr Michael O’Higgins SC, told the jury that Jennings was a practised liar.
“The accused is a very capable liar,” he said. “He is someone who tells very plausible lies. He is also a person who is capable of weaving a very elaborate story that is false and contains within it a multiple of layers.”
The jury had previously heard that on August 31, Jennings had parked his car in Dublin Airport and told his wife and gardaí he was travelling to the Netherlands via Brussels on urgent family business.
He had in fact stayed in Dublin before travelling to Kilkenny under an assumed name before booking a ticket for the ferry from Rosslare to Roscoff.
Jennings stayed in Rosslare, telling people at his B&B that he had just arrived from Europe and was still feeling seasick.
Counsel for the defence, Mr David Kennedy SC told the jury that Jennings had lied out of fear of being arrested, after “trumped up charges” several years previously in Scotland.
“He had had an experience in Scotland,” he said. “He spent time in jail. He considered it a set up.
“I suggest to you that someone who has had a run in with the UK authorities, who are maybe not as agreeable as ours, their first instinct is to run.”
Mr Kennedy told the jury that Jennings had not acted like a guilty man. He had travelled back from Rosslare to Wexford with the intention of talking to the Gardaí and had used his own name in the B&B in Rosslare.
Mr Kennedy also told the jury that the State’s case contained many inconsistencies. He pointed out that the bloodstained carpet was not located in initial searches and items found in searches of local woods were not properly examined. A piece of car bumper had in fact gone missing.
The jury of 10 men and two women will continue to sit tomorrow when they will be charged by Mr Justice Barry White.
