Murder jury watches witness statement on video
A 22-year-old witness in a murder trial told Gardaí he was in the passenger seat of a car when his friend, who was driving, reached across him with a gun and shot a man in front of him.
A video recording of David Bussoli's statement to gardaí was shown to the jury in Kenneth Collopy's murder trial at the Central Criminal Court, after Mr Bussoli repeatedly denied having any memory of the incident, when he took the witness stand today.
In the recording he was seen telling gardaí he saw Collopy shoot someone, before speeding off in a car, then burning his clothes and giving him instructions to break his phone.
Collopy (aged 20) of Kilonan, Ballysimon has denied murdering Daniel Fitzgerald on December 8, 2009 in Limerick.
The 25-year-old carpenter was shot in the head and leg as he left his uncle's home at Ballysimon, where he had been visiting the family.
His uncle's family were staying in a number of mobile homes at the time, while their house was being renovated.
The defence argues that Collopy had just intended to shoot at the caravans, following an incident the previous night where his mother's van had been burnt out outside their home.
Mr Bussoli told gardaí he was with his friend Christopher Mulqueen on December 8, 2009, when he got a phone call telling him to go to the Lee estate in Limerick.
There was a car waiting there, Kenneth Collopy was in the passenger seat, and Mr Bussoli and his friend were told to get in. Collopy then told the driver to go out the Ballysimon Road.
Once on the road, Collopy told the driver to turn off into a caravan site, but he refused. That witness has already told the court he refused because he believed Collopy was going to shoot him, as he had earlier shown him a 9mm Glock handgun he had with him.
“Next thing, I saw a black gun getting stuck to his hip and he was told to drive f**king in there,” Mr Bussoli told detectives.
The driver continued to refuse, so Collopy kicked him out and Mr Bussoli was told to jump into the front seat, he said.
“Kenneth drove up to the caravan site, he turned the car around and I was told to pull back my seat and roll down the window. Next I see a person coming towards the car, then I see a gun coming across my face,” Mr Bussoli said.
He told gardaí a number of shots were fired, and he saw the man fall to the ground before the car sped off.
Mr Bussoli said the next thing he remembered was running through fields and then arriving at Collopy's house, where he was told to take his clothes off and they were burnt.
A woman was waiting outside in a car to bring he and Mr Mulqueen back into the city. He later received a call from Collopy telling him to break his phone.
When questioned about his statement in court by both senior prosecuting counsel, Ms Mary-Ellen Ring SC, and Collopy's defence counsel, Mr Brendan Grehan SC, Mr Bussoli repeatedly denied having any memory of the incident.
The jury has also heard that Collopy was arrested shortly after the shooting at his home. On searching property near the house, gardaí recovered a Glock semi-automatic handgun and remnants of burnt clothing.
They also found a green Toyota Corola with its passenger seat in a reclined position and a number of spent bullet casings on the ground.
The trial resumes tomorrow before Mr Justice Barry White.
