Witness denies seeing deceased 'beating the s**t out' of accused

Eoin Reynolds

A witness has denied seeing a neighbour who was killed in an "almost indescribably savage" way moments earlier using a metal pole to beat "the s**t out" of the man accused of his murder.

Declan Forde on Thursday gave evidence in the trial of Liam O'Leary (33), who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of John Casserly (58) at Forde's apartment in Tone House, Tone St, Ballina, Co Mayo close to midnight between October 23rd and 24th, 2024.

During cross-examination, Forde told defence senior counsel, Michael Bowman, that he saw the men "scuffling" before the witness and his mother fled the apartment.

Bowman put it to the witness that rather than a scuffle, he told gardaí that Mr Casserly was "out of it on drink" and "made a beeline for Liam O'Leary and pinned him against the wall and beat the s**t out of him", using a metal pole.

Forde said those were not his "exact words", that he didn't see any punches thrown and didn't see Casserly using the metal pole.

Opening the trial this week, prosecution senior counsel Dean Kelly told the jury that when gardaí breached the door of the apartment at about 12.50 am, they found Casserly lying naked on the ground, face up, with O'Leary standing over him, clothed.

Casserly had 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 Mr 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 Mr Casserly's anus.

Forde told prosecution counsel Miska Hanahoe BL that he lived with his mother, Joanna, in an apartment beside Casserly's.

He recalled being in his bedroom playing video games when he became aware that O'Leary, whom he had never seen before, had come into the living room and sat on the couch.

When Forde heard his mother in a raised voice say that the man was being disrespectful, he got up, went to the front room and, pointing at O'Leary in the dock, he said: "I told that thing there he has got to get the f**k out. How many times did I tell you to leave? Can you remember? It was a lot, right? I kept telling him to leave, he was refusing so I got a knife and I told him to 'get the f**k out'."

He said he pointed the knife at O'Leary and repeatedly told him to get out, but he "wouldn't leave, he just stood there". As the witness and his mother shouted at O'Leary to leave, he said Casserly "burst through the door and pinned him [O'Leary] up against the wall."

Forde went into his bedroom and smoked a joint to calm down. His mother followed him and put her body against the door. They could hear their five-month old puppy, Snoopy, yelping and Forde recalled his mother "breaking down" as he screamed: "He's going to kill the dog."

They left the bedroom and Forde said he used the knife to guard his mother while she scooped the dog from the floor and put him into the bathroom. They ran downstairs and raised the alarm as they went. Gardaí arrived shortly after Forde had exited onto the street but he was still holding the knife and didn't drop it when ordered to do so.

Forde said: "I didn't listen the first time. I got pepper sprayed and smacked with a bat a few times. It was my own fault really, and then I dropped it and I was arrested."

Gardaí interviewed Forde but no charges were ever brought against him.

Under cross-examination, Forde agreed with Bowman that his "blood was boiling" when he picked up the biggest knife he could find and used it to threaten O'Leary. He further agreed that he threatened to stab O'Leary and to "cut him up" while Casserly had him pinned against the wall.

He accepted it was possible that O'Leary was frightened and reluctant to leave the apartment as to do so would have required him to walk past the witness, who was holding the knife. He further agreed that his mother pushed him towards his bedroom because she didn't want him to use the knife on O'Leary.

When they emerged from the bedroom, Forde agreed that his mother wanted him to leave but he wanted to stay and 'get involved' with O'Leary. Forde said Casserly struck him [the witness] in the ribs with the metal bar to get him to "snap out of it" and his mother told him to leave so he exited and went downstairs.

Mark Warrell told Kelly, prosecuting, that he is an emergency call taker. At 11.44pm that night, he received a call from a man who called himself John Casserly. The witness could immediately tell there was a "heightened sense of distress and panic and a lot of shouting and roaring in the background".

He agreed that the man who identified himself as Casserly could be heard saying: "A man who was homeless who was staying with us pulled a knife on two people."

Warrell agreed with Bowman that there appeared to be one person on the call who was "very agitated, very angry" and another who was calmer and asked: "Why are you so angry with me?"

The trial continues before Judge Melanie Greally and a jury of nine men and three women.