Slieve League accused denies lying to escape responsibility, court hears

A man co-accused of the murder of 66-year-old Robert Wilkin has denied lying in the hopes of escaping responsibility for what he did, a court has heard.

Alan Vial, 39, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, County Donegal, and Nikita Burns, 23, from An Charraig, County Donegal, both deny the murder of Robert Wilkin, who was also known as Robin, on 25 June 2023.

Mr Vial claimed that it was his former lover and co-accused Ms Burns who beat Mr Wilkin to death with a rock and helped put his body over Ireland's tallest cliffs.

The body of the County Tyrone man was found in the sea at the foot of the Slieve League cliffs in County Donegal in the Republic of Ireland.

On his second day of cross-examination at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, Mr Vial denied striking Mr Wilkin five or six times on the head with a rock.

He insisted he was telling the truth when he said that Ms Burns caused Mr Wilkin's death by twice striking him on the back of the head with a rock and that he did not strike him at all.

Ms Burns' lawyer put it to Mr Vial that he had "come to court and told lies about Ms Burns' involvement in the killing that you committed, in the hopes of escaping responsibility for what you have done".

Mr Vial replied: "Incorrect."

Under cross-examination from prosecution, Mr Vial accepted that he had "fabricated" a story for gardaí (Irish police) when interviewed in 2023 about Mr Wilkin's death.

He said that what really happened is that Mr Wilkin was driving in an area known as Roshine in County Donegal with Mr Vial in the back seat and Ms Burns in the passenger seat.

It was late at night following a day of heavy drinking and an argument broke out which prompted Mr Wilkin to pull in and tell Mr Vial and Ms Burns to get out of the car.

When Mr Vial refused, he said Mr Wilkin turned around in his seat and punched him five or six times in the face. Mr Vial said he did not hit back but grabbed Mr Wilkin's wrists to prevent further blows.

It was then, he alleged, that Ms Burns appeared at the passenger side front door and twice struck Mr Wilkin in the back of the head with a rock, causing him to stop breathing.

He said he then drove to Slieve League with Ms Burns in the passenger seat and the top half of Mr Wilkin's body lying on the back seat and his legs hanging over the centre console.

Mr Vial accepted that he had lied to gardaí during 20 hours of interviews during which he described fighting Mr Wilkin at Slieve League but insisted he was alive and breathing when he, Mr Vial, drove off.

Mr Vial denied that he is lying now when he says that he did not strike Mr Wilkin at any point.

The accused rejected a further suggestion that he lied when he said that he knew Mr Wilkin was dead from two blows to the back of the head delivered by Ms Burns.

The prosecution added: "You took over with the rock and continued beating him with the rock on the head. An angry man like you, full of drink and you hit him many times, and that's how there was blood all over your car."

Mr Vial replied: "No."

He said he didn't call gardaí because he was "protecting Nikita" and denied that he was protecting himself.

He said they threw Mr Wilkin over the cliff "to dispose of the body, to help clean up the mess".

He said he couldn't remember the discussion between himself and Ms Burns for the ten minutes they spent at Roshine after Mr Wilkin had died, or in the car on the way to Slieve League.

He denied removing Mr Wilkin's jumper, which was found by searchers half way down the cliffs, and said he had nothing to do with disposing of the deceased's glasses, neck chain or a heavily bloodstained blanket which had been in the back seat of the car.

He said he didn't know what happened to Mr Wilkin's dog, a Jack Russell cross named Pip, but thought Ms Burns had let him out of the car at Roshine after Mr Wilkin's death.

He accepted that he waded into the sea at Teelin Pier to wash blood from his clothes but rejected the prosecution's suggestion that this was the act of a "killer taking extraordinary steps" to destroy evidence.

The prosecution put it to the accused that he is dishonest when it suits him.

"I have told lies to the guards," Mr Vial replied.

The prosecution suggested that Mr Vial was not prepared to tell the jury the full truth.

He suggested that Mr Vial had a "big part" in hitting and killing Robert Wilkin and that he disposed of the body "cruelly and calculatedly and cleaned yourself because you knew you had killed him".

"This is your last chance to tell the truth," the prosecution said.

"I didn't kill him," Mr Vial replied.

The trail continues.