After a delay from Monday because of a bomb hoax at the provincial court building in Málaga, the case against the Irish man accused of throwing his wife to her death off a Marbella hotel balcony, finally got underway on Tuesday.39 year old Michael Dermot McArdle, from Dundalk, denied throwing his wife Kelly-Anne off the fourth floor balcony of the Melia Don Pepe hotel on February 11, 2000 after a row, saying she tripped and fell when she went to attend to her son.However a witness, who was staying in the adjacent room in the hotel, Roy Haines, told the court that he told McArdle to put the mother of two down when he heard noises and saw him lifting her above his head. He said he heard shouts of ‘help’ and that there had been no child on the balcony. Later he said McArdle came to his room with a child with him – the boy said simply ‘My Mummy is dead’.Spanish police said that McArdle first claimed his wife had committed suicide, before later changing his story saying she had fallen by accident.
young son of balcony death mum Kelly-Anne Corcoran told a relative after her death: "Daddy bold; Daddy pushed Mammy", a murder trial heard today.Kelly-Anne’s brother-in-law, Peter Moran, recounted to gardai what the boy said about his mother’s fatal fall from a Spanish hotel balcony. Det Sgt Brian Mohan gave evidence of the interview on the second day of the trial in Spain of Ms Corcoran’s husband Michael McArdle who is charged with her murder. The mother-of-two died after a horrific fall from the balcony of a four star apartment complex in Marbella in February 2000. Mr McArdle from Haggardstown, Dundalk denies his wife’s murder. He insists her fall was an accident. Malaga’s provincial court also heard today that a Spanish police officer who took the accused’s statement noted McArdle seemed calm and not like someone whose wife had just died. The accused was in court today with his sons who are now 10 and 11. His new girlfriend Clare Dollard was also with him and watched proceedings from the back of the mostly empty courtroom. Det Sgt Mohan told the judge and jury through a translator that “everyone was very upset” when he spoke to members of Kelly-Anne’s extended family, the Corcorans and the Morans.
Responding to questions by defence lawyer Luis Casaubon he said he was a friend of the Corcoran family but insisted he acted impartially and properly throughout his involvement in the investigations. Det Sgt Mohan explained he was attached to the crime unit at Dundalk Garda Station. He said he took several statements following requests from Interpol. Kelly-Anne’s sister Caroline Moran had telephoned him on February 12, 2000 and asked him to inform her mother of the tragic events in Spain as she did not want to do so herself. He told Interpol in his report to them that the Corcoran and Moran families had information that would assist the investigation.
Ms Moran’s husband Peter told him in an interview that one of Kelly-Anne’s children said to him a day or two after her death: “Daddy bold; Daddy pushed Mammy”.
Det Insp John O’Mahony, now a Chief Superintendent told the court of a mutual assistance request received by the gardai from the Spanish authorities in relation to the investigation. He said when the Spanish police travelled to Ireland to speak to Mr McArdle he found it “surprising” that the accused “all of a sudden didn’t want to speak”. He was surprised because Mr McArdle had agreed to be interviewed, he said. “His solicitor told me that he had changed his mind, I asked him again would he reconsider as there had been a number of discrepancies found by the Spanish police,” Chief Supt O’Mahony said. “The solicitor went and spoke again to Mr McArdle and he came back a second time and said on legal advice he was not going to speak”.
Supt O’Mahony understood that the Spanish police in subsequent investigations had found a number of contradictions with Mr McArdle’s statement and now wanted to interview him to clarify those contradictions. Supt O’Mahony did not believe that Sgt Mohan had acted improperly adding “in fact it was his duty to have enquiries carried out”.
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