John Joseph Malone murder trial continued with garda evidence

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

John Joseph Malone’s murder trial continued in the Central Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 10 April 2017. He pleaded not guilty to murdering 69-year-old Ann 'Nancy' Smyth at her home on Wolfe Tone Street in Kilkenny City on 11 September 1987.

Inspector Colin Furlong told the court that investigators did not speak to witnesses with the purpose of getting them to say the chief suspect had confessed. He said multiple witnesses came forward of their own volition and volunteered statements alleging Malone had confessed.

Defence barrister Colman Cody SC put it to Furlong that, by 2012, gardaí had insufficient evidence to prosecute and forensic examinations had yielded nothing. He suggested that seeking confession evidence was the only option. Furlong replied that this was not a true reflection of what had happened.

Cody also suggested that Furlong’s purpose in speaking to one witness in 2011 or 2012 was to obtain a statement implicating Malone. Furlong denied that and said that, if the witness had nothing to offer, investigators would have left.

Cody said it was remarkable that so many witnesses came forward between October 2012 and May 2013 saying Malone had confessed to them. Furlong said he did not know whether it was remarkable, but that there was significant evidence.

The trial continued before Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury of seven men and five women.