LAST UPDATE | 21 May 2019

A BOY ACCUSED of the murder of Ana Kriegel told gardaí that she was “not really liked” because she was different.

This week, the court is being shown a number of video interviews conducted by gardaí with Boy B following his arrest in May last year. 

Boy B was accompanied by his mother and a solicitor for the interviews which happened at a local garda station over the course of two days.

Two boys, known as Boy A and Boy B, have pleaded not guilty to the 14-year-old girl’s murder on 14 May 2018. Boy A has also been charged with aggravated sexual assault – a charge he also denies. Both boys were 13 years old at the time of the alleged offences.

Ana’s body was discovered in a disused house three days after she disappeared.

It is being alleged by the prosecution that Boy A murdered Ana and sexually assaulted her. It is the prosecution’s case that Boy B assisted the murder and knew what was going to happen. 

‘Different’

In the footage displayed in court today, Boy B was asked by gardaí to tell them about Ana. 

Boy B is shown in the footage telling gardaí that she was “different” and that she was much more mature than other girls. He said she was much taller and had developed quicker than other girls. 

“She was kind of outcasted…,” he added. 

Boy B told gardaí that a lot of people knew Ana but she wasn’t very popular. He said he would often see her walking by herself and that she’d have her headphones in. 

“I’d consider her to be a lonely, sad person because, like, she’s been through depression quite a bit.” He said “lots of people know a lot about her”. 

He added that she was a “goth” and that she  “dressed in all black and usually would be in slutty clothes, like really short t-shirts or really tight trousers or really short shorts. All in all, she’s just different.”

Boy B was asked by gardaí what he meant by Ana was more mature than other girls. He said that her breasts and hips had developed before other girls.

He said she was not liked because she was “different – she’s weird”. He said “she’d be by herself most of the time, anti-social, she’d dress in all black and she dyed her hair. She’d always sit alone somewhere, she wouldn’t really hang out with anyone. If you asked her to hang out, she’d probably say no.” 

He said that a lot of people knew she was depressed.

Asked by gardaí to elaborate on what he meant by saying that Ana dressed in a “slutty” way, Boy B said she wore clothes “that made her breasts stand out and her hips stand out”. He said “it just looked like she wanted people to look at her by the clothes she was wearing”.

Gardaí could then be heard asking Boy B what he thought of Ana. He said: ” I thought of her as a weirdo, somebody who I should not be around.”

He was then asked about his group of friends. He mentioned Boy A was a friend of his but that “he’s not really my friend anymore since what happened”.

Boy B’s account of the day of Ana’s disappearance

In further interview footage played to court today, gardaí asked Boy B to recount the events which led to him calling for Ana.

He said Boy A called to his house and asked him (Boy B) to call for her. 

Boy B told gardaí Boy A had asked him to call to Ana’s house and that he had replied with a ‘no’ adding that Boy A had “started whinging, saying ‘please please’ and I gave in and said ‘sure’.”

He added: “I asked why a little bit later and he said it was relationship problems.” 

Boy B told gardaí he believed Boy A meant Ana had a crush on him (Boy A) and he wanted to let her know he didn’t want a relationship with her. 

Boy B told gardaí he got to Ana’s house and when she came to the door, she said “what do you want?”. He replied that Boy A “wants to see you”. He said at this point her face “lightened up”. 

He said when they left the house, initially they walked in silence. A short time later, they began talking about her ex boyfriends. At this point, she showed Boy B a picture of her tied to a chair. He said it was a “really scary” photo. Boy B said Ana told him she had never shown the photo to anyone else. 

Boy B told gardaí the two were walking through the park when they saw someone dressed in all black. When that person turned, it became clear that person was Boy A, the court heard. 

Boy B said: “He was wearing full black clothes, he had a black bag. He was wearing black gloves as well.” 

Gardaí asked Boy B if Boy A was a goth. He responded: “No. He’s more strange.”

The officers then asked Boy B why he thought Boy A got him to call in for Ana. 

He said: “My guess would be he was too shy or he didn’t want to be seen with her in public.” Boy B told gardaí that some people who were asked out by Ana got a “negative backlash” from their friends. 

In further interview footage played in court today, Boy B told gardaí he called for Ana shortly before 5pm on the day of her disappearance. He said she gathered her phone and a hooded top and walked out the door with him. 

Boy B said that Boy A seemed surprised when he and Ana arrived to meet him in the park. 

He said that as Boy A and Ana talked, he walked away to give them privacy. 

Boy B said that when he was leaving, he said “alright I’m going”. He said he walked off and got a drink from a nearby tap and sat down for a number of minutes. 

He said that’s when he saw Ana again. Boy B said he went up to say hello but she didn’t say anything. He said he walked a bit faster in front of her and headed home. Boy B said he looked back shortly afterwards but Ana had gone.

Boy B said he went home, did his homework and then watched some Netflix. He said it was around 10pm when the gardaí arrived at his door to tell him that Ana had gone missing.