Man walking with girlfriend describes finding body in suitcase in canal in Ardclough

Walkers found the initial body parts in Ardclough on January 16 and other remains were found in Sallins a week later.

placeholder image — Walkers found the initial body parts in Ardclough on January 16 and other remains were found in Sallins a week later.

A man out walking by the Grand Canal in Ardclough found an unusual-looking suitcase floating in the water and opened it to discover a human torso, later identified as the remains of missing father-of-one Kenneth O’Brien.

The two told a murder trial they noticed that the case was zipped up, looked new and had red ribbons on it when they decided to pull it out of the water.

When they opened it and looked inside, the man phoned the gardai and said: “I think we found a body.”

The couple were giving evidence in the trial of Paul Wells (50) of Barnamore Park, Finglas, who denies murdering Mr O’Brien (33) at that address at a time unknown between January 15 and 16, 2016.

The Central Criminal Court has heard Mr Wells told gardai he shot Mr O’Brien during a struggle, then “panicked” and dismembered the body, which was later found in the canal.

Giving evidence this afternoon, Brian O’Dwyer said he was out walking with his girlfriend Mary Costigan along the canal in Ardclough in Co Kildare at around 3.05pm on January 16, 2016.

They noticed a greyish or purplish suitcase that was “zipped all around”, floating in the canal, about two metres from the bank.

Mr O’Dwyer said he got a stick from the hedgerow and reached out to try to drag the suitcase out to the edge. He manipulated it to the bank and tried to pull it out by the handle, but the handle snapped.

He managed to grab another handle and used both hands to get the suitcase out, while Ms Costigan put her hands around his waist to stop him falling in. The suitcase was “quite heavy,” he said.

Mr O’Dwyer noticed red ribbons on the suitcase and no water came out when he pulled it out.

He agreed with Sean Gillane SC, prosecuting, that he wanted to open it but decided to do so cautiously.

“I pulled back the zip… there was some plastic material, clear plastic with red liquid in it,” he said.

“At that point I called the gardai and said ‘I think we found a body’”, Mr O’Dwyer told the court.

He said the officer he spoke to was “a bit reluctant” and Ms Costigan proceeded to open the case the whole way and “she looked in it and said it is a body.”

The trial continues.