'You are dying tonight' - Murder accused told gardaí he acted in self defence
By Eoin Reynolds
A man accused of a murder in circumstances of "almost indescribable savagery" told gardaí that he acted in self-defence after the deceased told him, "you are dying tonight," and came at him with a knife.
Liam O'Leary also said he "smashed" the deceased's face with a glass and "gouged his eye out". He said: "I killed a man tonight, if you want, put me in prison... if it wasn't him dead it would be me."
Opening the trial this week, prosecution senior counsel Dean Kelly told the jury that when gardaí breached the door of an apartment at Tone House on Tone St, Ballina, Co Mayo, at about 12.50am on October 24th, 2024, they found John Casserly lying naked on the ground, face up, with O'Leary standing over him, clothed.
Kelly said Casserly died in circumstances of "almost indescribable savagery", having been stabbed 27 times, including on both sides of the chest, in the abdomen, neck, left eye, genitals, and anus.
He had suffered multiple blunt force and incised wounds to his trunk, arms, and legs, Kelly said.
His left eye had been removed from the skull by a combination of blunt and sharp force, and all the bones on the left side of his face were fractured.
State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers removed a blade that had been inserted through Casserly's mouth, into the bony part of the palate and through the base of his skull.
Dr Okkers also removed a bent and damaged butter knife from Casserly's anus.
O'Leary (33), of no fixed abode but formerly of Ballina, has pleaded not guilty to Casserly's murder.
Sgt John Melia on Friday, told Miska Hanahoe BL, prosecuting, that gardaí arrived at the scene but waited for the Armed Support Unit (ASU) from Claremorris to breach the door of the apartment. He said he heard a commotion as O'Leary was restrained and entered when the scene had been declared safe.
He said he saw the body of a naked male lying on his back in the living room area with multiple stab wounds to his chest and a serious laceration to his neck.
His face was disfigured and covered in blood. Sgt Melia arrested O'Leary, who told him: "It was self-defence, he tried to kill me."
When asked why Casserly was naked, he said: "He took off his clothes and whipped me with them."
Det Gda Aidan Brennan said that when O'Leary was placed in a garda van, he continued talking, saying: "That man [Casserly] said, 'you are dying tonight'. He came at me with a knife.
"I smashed his face with a glass and gouged his eye out. He stabbed me in the arm. It was either him or me. I killed a man tonight. If you want, put me in prison. I'm bleeding from my arm. If it wasn't him dead, it would be me."
Dr William Brunker said he pronounced Casserly dead at 1.31am that night. He noted injuries to Casserly's throat and groin - with a lot of blood in the genital area - along with lacerations to his abdomen. His left eye was removed and was "some distance from his remains".
Dr Brunker later attended Ballina Garda Station to treat O'Leary for 'minor abrasions' to his left arm. He prescribed an anti-inflammatory for pain.
Sgt Sean Maher of the ASU told Kelly that gardaí broke down the apartment door and shouted "armed gardaí" as they entered.
He saw Casserly on the floor with O'Leary standing over him.
O'Leary ignored repeated demands to get on the ground so Gda Maher, having noted that he was not armed, approached, used 'soft hands' to put him on the couch, and handcuffed him.
The trial continues before Judge Melanie Greally and a jury of nine men and three women.
