Lee Slattery murder trial hears sisters describe his fear hours before disappearance

Lee Slattery’s murder trial in Cork heard on Wednesday, 7 October, that he cowered beside a road in Limerick and said he thought he was about to be shot when two sisters stopped their car near him on 27 May 2010. The testimony concerns the hours before the 25-year-old disappeared; Kurt Ryan denies murdering him.

Coleen and Ciara Neill described the encounter to the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork, according to separate reports by RTÉ News and the Irish Examiner. Their evidence gives the jury an account of Slattery’s apparent fear that evening. It does not establish what caused that fear or who was responsible for his death.

What the sisters told the court about Lee Slattery

Coleen Neill said she stopped on Shanabooley Road at about 7.20pm and opened her car door. Slattery, whom she knew, was holding his chest and covering his head, she told the court. She recalled asking what was wrong and said he replied: ‘Jesus, I thought you were getting out of the car to shoot me.’

She described him cowering low and putting a hand over his head as though protecting himself. The two shared a nervous laugh, she said. The Irish Examiner reported her account of his fear as ‘very real’, even though they laughed about the moment. Her description was evidence of his reaction to the car door opening, rather than an identification of anyone who had threatened him.

The search after Slattery failed to return home

Slattery’s mother, Rose, told the court she last saw her son in the sitting room of their home at about 11pm on 27 May, RTÉ reported. She later heard the front door close. The next morning, she noticed his bed had not been slept in. As he remained missing, she became increasingly worried and called his friends.

His brother Ray searched near Delmege Estate on 30 May and returned with relatives and others the following day, according to RTÉ. After the group had been searching for some time, they came upon a patch of freshly disturbed, muddy ground partly covered by branches. Ray said it looked out of the ordinary and used a broken branch to turn over some sods.

The searchers then saw a patch of blue clothing in the ground, according to both reports. RTÉ said it matched the top Slattery had last been seen wearing. They stopped disturbing the area and contacted gardaí. The account of the search explains how the location came to police attention; the reports do not say that the sisters’ earlier encounter revealed who caused Slattery’s death.

The charge against Kurt Ryan and what remains unresolved

Ryan, from Moylish Crescent in Limerick, is charged with murdering Slattery at Delmege Estate on Knockalisheen Road on a date unknown between 27 and 31 May 2010. The Irish Examiner reported that he denies the charge. The prosecution says Slattery was shot dead in the early hours after Coleen Neill’s encounter with him. That is the prosecution’s account in an ongoing trial, not a finding by the jury.

The reports do not establish a precise date of death within the period specified in the charge. Nor does Slattery’s reported fear, on its own, establish a link between the sisters’ encounter and the killing. The jury heard accounts of his movements and of the family’s search, while the central question of responsibility remained before the court.