ONE OF THE boys accused of murdering Anastasia Kriegel broke down crying as he described hearing what he believed to be Ana’s scream after he said he left her and Boy A at an abandoned house, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

In an interview he gave to gardai on 25 May 2018 the boy, who denies murdering the 14-year-old Kildare schoolgirl, said he was scared and ran away. He added: “I thought that [Boy A] and Ana got attacked or something and I ran because I thought that [Boy A] would be able to handle the situation.” He mentioned that Boy A was strong. 

The court also heard that in an earlier interview when Boy B was told Ana’s blood was found on Boy A’s shoes he said: “No, no, [Boy A] wouldn’t do that.”

The accused, who are both 14, cannot be named because they are minors. They have each pleaded not guilty to murdering the 14-year-old Kildare schoolgirl at Glenwood House, Laraghcon, Clonee Road, Lucan on 14 May last year.

Boy A is further charged with the 14-year-old’s aggravated sexual assault in a manner that involved serious violence to her. He has pleaded not guilty to that count.

The jury has been watching video footage of interviews Boy B gave on 24 May and 25 May 2018 at a garda station. 

In the fifth interview, Detective Garda Donal Daly told Boy B that CCTV shows him walking with Ana at 5.14pm on 14 May to meet Boy A and at 5.57pm CCTV captures a person who gardaí say is Boy B.

At 5.49pm, Boy B identified himself in the park. Detective Garda Daly said: “That’s 35 minutes you have not accounted for and I believe Ana was murdered in those 35 minutes.”

Boy B responded that he wasn’t in the house where Ana’s body was found.

He said he was with Ana and met Boy A.

Boy A and Ana talked for a while, he didn’t know how long, they started walking up the road and Boy B said he walked with them for a while but got bored and left them.

He went to a water tap in the park and sat for a while.

“That’s the 35 minutes,” he said.

Detective Garda Daly said he had timed how long it takes to walk to all the different areas he mentioned and 29 minutes is still unaccounted for.

Boy B recounted his movements again and Detective Garda Daly said: “Stop trying to make your story suit the facts.”

He told him, “Now is the time for truth”, and asked Boy B to tell him what happened.

Boy B replied: “I already told you the truth.”

Detective Garda Daly continued: “It took us nine minutes to walk from the house to where you last saw [Boy A] and Ana. Nine minutes through the field and nine minutes back, that’s 18 minutes. That allows 12 minutes, there or thereabouts, to murder Ana.”

Boy B replied: “I wasn’t at the house. I wasn’t there.”

Detective Garda Daly asked: “Where were you?”

Boy B then told the garda that Ana and Boy A were talking. He added: “I was standing beside them, I gave them space so I walked away a bit and I stood there and then they started walking. Like two or three minutes later I left.”

Detective Garda Daly told Boy B that a witness saw a youth with a black backpack crossing into the field at the back of the abandoned house where Ana was found. He added: “I believe that was you going into the field…”

Boy B replied: “Ok, I did go into the field, but that was to look around, that’s all.”

He said he crossed the ditch into the field, looked around and went back.

“That’s all, I didn’t go any further,” he said.

Detective Garda Daly said: “You’re making this up as you go along. I’m presenting you with facts and evidence and you are changing your story to suit. You can’t keep doing this.”

At this point, Boy B asked his mother to leave the room.

Gardaí pointed out to him that as he is a minor, he must have a parent or guardian present.

Detective Garda Daly added: “Your mam is a woman of the world and we are all men of the world, we just want the truth and I’m sure that’s all your mam wants. You owe it to yourself, to Ana and to your mam. There was a girl unfortunately who was absolutely brutally murdered.”

Boy B continued, saying he met Boy A at the place he said earlier but “we didn’t talk and walk”.

He said Boy A went through the field first, followed by himself and then Ana.

Boy A, he said, brought Ana to the house. Boy B didn’t go into the house, he said, “because I thought he wanted to go somewhere private”.

Boy B said he left and Boy A went into the house with Ana.

Boy B walked away, he said, and was halfway across the field when he heard a scream. He said: “So I ran back. I went back the way I came, I went to the tap and I had a little drink, sat down and then I went out and started walking and then I went home. That’s it. I didn’t go into the house. I was just tagging along.” 

Detective Garda Daly asked him to describe the scream again and he said it was a “really like strong scream, I could hear it from outside the house and just as it was about to end it got muffled.”

Boy B started crying before Detective Garda Daly asked him why he ran away.

“Because I was scared,” he said. “I thought [Boy A] was handling the situation because he’s big and strong. I thought that [Boy A] and Ana got attacked or something and I ran because I thought that [Boy A] would be able to handle the situation.”

The garda asked him for every detail and he told them: “It was like a really like strong scream like I knew by it that it was Ana but since [Boy A] was there I thought she’d be fine, that he would protect her. The screams were like really loud and just before it ended it got muffled like someone covered her mouth.”

On his way home, he said he kept thinking everything was going to be alright.

“[Boy A] was there – he will be able to protect her,” he said.

Detective Garda Daly asked if he was, “Happy that’s everything now?”

“Yes,” he replied.

In his fourth interview on the previous day, Boy B was shown a series of photographs relating to the garda investigation.

When he looked at one of a length of tape at the scene he said: “Wait a minute, holy shit, oh my god.”

He added that he gave Boy A tape a couple of weeks earlier. He described it as construction tape and said he uses it a lot. He said Boy A asked for it because he was making a weapon and said it was going to be “pretty big”.

Boy B denied bringing the tape to the house. 

Gardaí also showed him a photograph of Boy A’s boots and said Ana’s blood was found on them.

Boy B said: “No, no [Boy A] wouldn’t do that.” The garda told him this means that Boy A was either directly involved in the assault on Ana or was standing by. Boy B said that if those are Boy A’s boots then, “that means either he did it or he was a standby”.

He said he didn’t “want to believe [Boy A] did it”.

After he was shown a picture of a block and a piece of wood with bloodstains on them, he said that must be the murder weapon. Asked to explain, he said: “Because since it has blood on it and in the newspapers it said a rock and a stick were used to kill Ana Kriegel and since it’s a rock with blood on it I suppose it’s the murder weapon.”

Gardaí said blood was also found on the stick and he said: “Jesus Christ, It’s getting worse and worse.”

The trial continues tomorrow in front of Justice Paul McDermott and a jury of eight men and four women.