Court hears woman accused of murdering pensioner 'battered' deceased's face and liked it

Eoin Reynolds

A woman on trial accused of murdering a pensioner who was "put over" Ireland's highest sea cliffs told a friend that she had "battered" a man with a rock "until his face was out the back of his head" and that she liked it, the Central Criminal Court heard on Tuesday.

The trial also heard a recording of a separate phone call in which the accused woman, Nikita Burns, said that after a fight with the deceased Robert 'Robin' Wilkin, she and her co-accused Alan Vial drove until 3am and "pushed him [Mr Wilkin] off Sliabh Liag".

She said, "they won't find him," but added that there was blood on the roof of the car in which the alleged assault took place. She added: "There is a slim chance we'll get caught for it but if I go down, I go down."

Ms Burns (23) of Carrick, Co Donegal and Alan Vial (39) of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, Co Donegal have pleaded not guilty to the murder of 66-year-old Robert 'Robin' Wilkin on June 25th 2023 in Donegal.

Mr Wilkin's body was found one week later in the water below the Sliabh Liag cliffs.

Ms Burns pleaded guilty to impeding the apprehension or prosecution of another person for an arrestable offence but the prosecution did not accept her plea.

Chris Quinn on Tuesday told prosecution counsel Bernard Condon SC that Ms Burns had been homeless before he allowed her to move into his apartment in 2023. She later brought another man to stay in the one-bed apartment and that man's brother and son ended up living there.

About two weeks before the alleged murder, Ms Burns had moved out to live somewhere in Killybegs. She seemed to be doing well and told Mr Quinn by text message that she "felt like a new woman".

However, the witness said that when Ms Burns knocked on his door at around midnight on the night after the alleged murder, she seemed "panicky and deranged" and he thought she was "off her head" from drugs or alcohol.

She initially spoke to the other people in the house before coming to Mr Quinn's room where she told him repeatedly that she was a "murderer".

She changed her clothes before going back to the living room where, with the two other men present, Mr Quinn said Ms Burns said out loud that she was "after murdering someone".

Mr Quinn recalled her saying that she was out with Mr Vial and another man in a car and that there was an argument when the other man "was trying to touch her [Ms Burns] up".

They started fighting, he said, before the car pulled up and either she or Mr Vial got a rock from somewhere along the road. She said she she hit the man with the rock in his face.

Mr Quinn recalled her saying that she "battered him in the face with the rock and she liked it". He added that she "didn't seem to care that much" and after telling her story, asked for some of Mr Quinn's antidepressant or antipsychotic medication before eating a chicken curry.

Mr Quinn said he went to bed and could hear laughter from the room where Ms Burns and the two other men were sitting.

Under cross-examination, Mr Quinn confirmed to Alan Vial's defence counsel Shane Costelloe SC that Ms Burns said she "battered the fella until his face was out the back of his head. Then she said she liked it."

Sharon O'Dowd told Mr Condon that she spoke on the phone that night with one of the men who was in Ms Burns's company in Mr Quinn's apartment. Ms Burns took the phone and told Ms O'Dowd that she "beat some man's head in, her and Alan".

The witness decided she needed a recording of what Ms Burns was saying so she called her son to record the conversation on his mobile phone.

The recording was played to the court today in which Ms Burns said that Mr Wilkin had been "fighting with us" and that he was "touching up my legs and doing whatever to me and that's why Alan got pissed and dragged him out the back and started caving his head in."

Ms Burns said this happened "a wee bit outside Killybegs" and afterwards she and Mr Vial drove until 3am "and we pushed him off Sliabh Liag." She later said: "They won't find him, he was thrown off Sliabh Liag, they won't find him."

As the phone conversation continued, Ms Burns said Mr Vial had been arrested later that evening for drink driving after crashing the car. She said: "His [Mr Wilkin's] blood is on the roof. There's a slim chance we'll get caught for it but if I go down for it, I go down."

Ms O'Dowd told Ms Burns's defence counsel Eoin Lawlor SC that she recorded the conversation because Ms Burns is a vulnerable person and she thought she "was in a situation".

She recalled Ms Burns telling her that Mr Wilkin had been driving with Mr Vial in the back seat. She said that Mr Vial began throwing punches at Mr Wilkin from behind before Mr Vial got out of the car and got a rock.

She agreed with Mr Lawlor that Ms Burns appeared to say that after Mr Vial retrieved the rock, Ms Burns got another rock and came round to the driver's side of the car. She recalled Ms Burns saying that Mr Vial then dragged Mr Wilkin to the back seat and that there was "more fighting".

Ms O'Dowd agreed that she did not hear Ms Burns crying. "She was just on a high, she was very loud and high," the witness said.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of five men and seven women.