Fatal stabbing scene looked like a staged suicide, court told

The first witnesses to the scene of a fatal stabbing have described finding deceased musician, Martin Kivlehan, holding a knife near his neck. A garda said he thought the scene was staged to look like a suicide.

Mr Kivlehan’s youngest brother, two life-long friends and a number of gardaí gave evidence to the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday in the trial of a 31-year-old Sligo man.

Keith Brady of Cartron Estate in the town is charged with murdering Martin Kivlehan on a date unknown between August 2nd and August 3rd, 2015 at The New Apartments on Holborn Street.

He has pleaded not guilty to murdering the 59-year-old, but guilty to his manslaughter in Mr Kivlehan’s home.

Dermot “Mossy” Conlon testified that he called to Mr Kivlehan’s home. He told Paul Murray SC, prosecuting, that he had received no answer when he knocked, so had opened the door, which would usually be locked.

He had called out: “Matt, what’s the craic with you?”

He found his life-long friend lying on the sittingroom floor. He touched the side of his face and got blood on his hand. He went for help and located another friend, Maurice Wynne.

Mr Wynne testified that he could see a knife in Mr Kivlehan’s hand when he arrived.

“It was in his right hand and it was at his throat,” he recalled, describing the deceased’s hand as “clenched”.

He told Mr Murray that he checked his pulse and realised he had passed away.

He checked for signs of a break-in, but found none.

“The place was in disarray. The doors of the press were open. There seemed to be tablets scattered around,” he said, explaining that he thought somebody had tried to make it look like an overdose.

He agreed he had seen Janice Brady in Mr Kivlehan's home about three weeks earlier. He didn't want to be in her company as he had heard she was bad news, so he had left.

Brendan Grehan SC, defending, cross-examined him about seeing the knife.

“I thought maybe somebody planted it there,” he said.

The deceased man's brother, Christopher Kivlehan, became emotional when he described his brother, a banjo player, becoming physically weaker due to his alcohol abuse in his latter months and years.

He was very close to his brother, and he was a regular caller to his home, where other friends would gather to hear him play.

Mr Murray asked how he would describe his late brother.

“An absolute gentleman,” he replied. “Anybody who ever had the pleasure of meeting Martin would say that he was a true gentleman.”

The previous witnesses had called him on the day they found their friend dead.

“That was the journey from hell,” he said of the drive to his brother’s home.

“When I opened the door, there was just terrible silence,” he recalled. “I could see Martin lying on the ground.”

He had called the gardaí.

Garda David Hannon testified that his suspicions were immediately raised when he saw that the deceased had a steak knife with a serrated edge in his closed hand on his chest.

Under cross-examination by Mr Grehan, he agreed that he’d suspected that it had been staged to make it look like the deceased had stabbed himself.

“It didn’t look like a suicide,” he said.

Mr Murray had earlier told the jury that it would have to consider the accused’s level of intoxication when he killed Mr Kivlehan.

He opened the case for the jury of four women and eight men, explaining that intention was a key element in the offence of murder. He also noted that drink or drugs may well be to the fore in the case.

He said that one of the matters for the jury to consider would be Keith Brady’s level of intoxication at the time “and the extent to which, if at all, it clouded his judgment, intention and capacity”.

“If the level of intoxication is such to preclude the intent being formed . . . it would be manslaughter,” he said.

Mr Murray described the deceased as a “talented musician” and a “well-liked, popular, inoffensive man, who wouldn’t do harm to anybody”.

A Garda investigation was launched and a pathologist carried out a post-mortem exam.

“His evidence will be along the following lines,” said Mr Murray. “There were two stab wounds: one on either side of the neck.” He said that both had been at an angle of “45 degrees to the horizontal”.

The pathologist had found high levels of alcohol in his body, describing it as “gross intoxication”.

“You can also look in terms of what it tells you about his ability to defend himself, or do physically anything at the time,” suggested Mr Murray. “Those are matters to which you should have account.”

The barrister explained that Garda inquiries began to focus on Keith and Janice Brady, a brother and sister. Janice Brady was the last person to be seen with the deceased when he was alive.

“Both Keith Brady and Janice Brady were arrested and ultimately Keith Brady has been charged with murder,” he explained. “He admits unlawful killing but says it wasn’t murder, but manslaughter.”

He said that unless all of the jurors were satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that he was guilty of murder, then the verdict would be manslaughter.

The trial continues on Wednesday morning before Ms Justice Carmel Stewart and is expected to last more than two weeks.