Paul Wells Snr found guilty of murder

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

Paul Wells Snr was found guilty of murdering Kenneth O’Brien at Wells’s home in Barnamore Park, Finglas, on 15 or 16 January 2016. The proceedings were reported on 6 November 2018.

Wells pleaded not guilty to murder. He admitted shooting O’Brien and dismembering his body, but said he had acted in self-defence.

Wells told gardaí that O’Brien had brought a gun to his home and wanted him to murder O’Brien’s partner. Wells said he did not want to do it and that a struggle followed. He said the gun fell and he got it first, fearing O’Brien would shoot him.

A post-mortem examination found that the gun had been held against the back of O’Brien’s head. Wells said he then panicked, dismembered O’Brien with a borrowed chainsaw and dumped his torso in a suitcase in the Grand Canal.

The report said Wells was due to be sentenced to life imprisonment that afternoon.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.