Zoltan Almasi jailed for baseball bat murder in Naas

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

Zoltan Almasi was jailed for life for murdering Joseph Dunne at the Central Criminal Court, reported on 16 March 2016. Dunne was killed in Naas, Co Kildare, on 16 May 2014. A jury found Almasi guilty by majority verdict on 10 March. The court heard that Dunne was struck on the head with a baseball bat after he hit a parked van. Almasi had pleaded not guilty three weeks earlier.

Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan backdated the life sentence to Almasi’s arrest on 16 May 2014. Evidence included CCTV footage showing Almasi chasing Dunne and later running away with a baseball bat. Almasi told gardaí during interviews that he had not struck Dunne and was not capable of doing so. A deputy state pathologist said Dunne died from blunt force trauma to the head, consistent with a blow from the tip of a baseball bat.