John Joseph Malone pleads not guilty to 1987 murder charge

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

John Joseph Malone was charged with murdering 69-year-old Ann ‘Nancy’ Smyth at her home on Wolfe Tone Street in Kilkenny on 11 September 1987. Smyth was strangled before her house was set on fire.

Malone pleaded not guilty. The proceedings were reported on 3 April 2017.

At the Central Criminal Court, Ann Malone, the accused man’s former sister-in-law, testified that he had said he murdered Smyth and had got away with it. She described several occasions on which she said he raised the subject.

Her former husband, Bernard 'Barney’ Malone, the accused man’s brother, had previously told the court that his brother made a similar confession. Under cross-examination, he confirmed that he believed their father had helped after the alleged killing, describing that belief as his opinion.

The trial was continuing before Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury. The report said Ann Malone was due to be cross-examined by the defence the following morning.