BOY B DID not technically lay a hand on Ana Kriegel. He did not directly inflict any injuries on her. His DNA was not found on her body or clothes. But on Tuesday he was convicted of her murder.
His role in the girl’s death was instrumental, the prosecution maintained, as he enabled Boy A to get access to Ana.
Entitled to anonymity until he is 18, and most likely beyond that, Ana’s second killer will continue to be called Boy B.
After the discovery of Ana’s body in a dilapidated house in the Dublin suburb of Lucan, Boy B expressed a wish to gardaí for things to ‘go back to the way they were’ before. In 2018, as a 13-year-old boy in his first year of secondary school, ‘the way things were’ was made up of standard things for a teen. He liked anime, Marvel superheroes, video games and making weapons, such as slingshots.
He was polite and respectful to gardaí when they showed up to his door. Staff at the school he attended described him as being highly intelligent, very well-spoken and respectful. He had a large group of friends who regularly liked to go exploring together.
During the course of the trial, he sat quietly with his parents, often gripping his mother’s hand for comfort.
But the events of 14 May 2018 ensured things would never go back to the way they were. A young girl had been brutally murdered, and two of her peers were being questioned about her death.
In his final interview with officers, Boy B repeatedly said he had no idea that Ana was going to be killed in an abandoned house in Lucan when he called to her door on that Monday evening.
That day, Boy B got up and dressed as he would on a usual school day. He attended his classes, messed around with friends and walked home. Boy A was with him as they made their way from school to their respective houses. They spoke about the usual things children talk about; video games got a good airing.
Boy B arrived home and got changed into a pair of tracksuit bottoms and a grey hoodie. He was in his room when there was a knock on the door. It was Boy A, and he wanted to hang out. Boy B said he couldn’t at the time as he had to do his chores. It was then Boy A asked him to call into Ana on his behalf. Boy B said he got sick of Boy A’s “whining” about it, so gave in and said he would go to her house.
Boy B repeatedly told officers that he was asked to do so as Boy A wanted to tell her he wasn’t romantically interested in her.
Once the arrangement had been made, Boy A left Boy B’s home and headed towards the park. By then, he had a bag over his back, something Detective Garda Donal Daly described in court as a “murder kit”. It contained knee pads, shin pads, gloves, a homemade zombie mask and a snood.
As Boy A walked towards Glenwood House, Boy B was captured on CCTV heading across a green area in the direction of Ana’s house. Once there, he knocked on the door and told Ana that Boy A wanted to see her. Ana’s face lit up, she hurriedly gathered her things and she left her home with Boy B.
CCTV would capture Boy B again; this time walking with Ana in the direction of the park. She would be dead 30 minutes later – something Boy B maintained he had no reason to predict.
Later that day
Around 10.45pm on the evening of 14 May 2018, gardaí knocked on the front door of Boy B’s home.
The court heard how Boy B stood inside the door, behind his mother, as Garda Conor Muldoon asked some questions in relation to Ana Kriegel, who had been reported missing by her parents about two hours earlier. Boy B confirmed that he knew Ana and had last seen her that afternoon. He did not mention his friend, who would become to be known to Ireland as Boy A.
The following day, another knock on the door of Boy B’s family home at about 8.30am. Sergeant John Dunne of Leixlip Garda Station would become familiar to the young teenager.
It was on that Tuesday morning that Boy B first mentioned Boy A to officers.
That same morning, two days before Ana’s body would be found, Boy B showed Sergeant Dunne the path he had taken through the park on the day of her disappearance. Later that afternoon, Sergeant Dunne called to the home of Boy B again and asked him to retrace his steps again.
Boy A and his father were also present and were in the process of showing gardaí the route Boy A said he took.
During this second telling, Boy B told Sergeant Dunne that he stopped walking at a certain point. Their stories did not add up. It was at this moment, Sergeant Dunne said he saw the two accused “share a look”. Sergeant Aengus Hussey, who was also present, said he was aware of a bad feeling coming over him when he saw the two boys communicate in this fashion.
As a result of the conflicting information, and the gut instincts of all the officers present, Sergeant Dunne said he went back to Boy B’s home to ask his mother if she would bring him to the station so he could make a statement to clarify his exact movements on the day.
Boy B’s first statement in full
I called to a girl called Ana Kriégel at the request of my friend Boy A. He had asked me to call to her and bring her to the park to meet with him there. He told me he wanted to sort out some relationship issues with her. So I called and got Ana and we walked through the pedestrian entrance to the park.Ana was very chatty. Ana wanted to know why Boy A wanted to meet her and I told her I would tell her when we got there. We met him at the… car park. I stayed behind them so they could talk. I could not really hear what they were saying, but I could hear their voices. I let them continue on walking. I know that Boy A wanted to be clear to her that she was not of interest to him.I turned back and went to… a water tap where I got a drink of water. I waited there a while as I was a little tired. After I got the water, I came back around… and then walked across the car park and I noticed Ana was walking along the park toward where we had come from. There were other people in the car park out walking but I did not see anyone else I recognised.When I saw Ana this time I said “hey” but she didn’t really say anything, she looked really down, she seemed upset and she had her head down. I walked on in front of her but we did not really talk. I did not see her or speak to her after that. I am not sure where she went but it looked as if she went back towards [where they had come from].This was about 5.30pm or 5.40pm. I know Ana had her phone on her and it was switched on because I saw her checking it once or twice and she also told me the time at one stage. I did not see Ana or Boy A after that. I went straight home and did my homework. My father was home when I got back. The first I heard there was a problem with Ana was when the gardaí called to our house asking about her. I have no clue what happened to her.
Two days after this statement was given, Ana Kriegel’s body was found in an abandoned house. She had been sexually assaulted and suffered a violent death.
The garda investigation was upgraded to murder. DNA was taken from various items in the house. Boy A’s DNA had earlier been taken after the alleged assault he suffered at the hands of two fictitious men in the park.
DNA belonging to Boy A was found in the abandoned house. Ana’s blood was found on gloves and a zombie mask, as well as shin pads found in a bag in his room.
Boy A and Boy B were then arrested by appointment on 24 May.
The garda interviews
Boy B changed his story around a half a dozen times in interviews with gardaí on 24 and 25 May.
Ana Kriegel’s murder trial heard 16 hours of Boy B’s interviews with Detective Garda Donal Daly and Detective Inspector Damien Gannon over the course of the hearings.
In them, he initially said he walked Ana to the park and “handed her over” to Boy A, a story he stuck to for quite some time. He said he gave the two teens space as they were discussing a private matter. He then told officers that he left but could see that Ana was sad.
On the morning of 25 May, Boy B told gardaí he had something else to say. His solicitor added: “There is something he wishes to clarify after reflection last night.”
Boy B said: “I’m going to retell the story of how it actually happened. What I told you yesterday was a lie.”
He said Boy A came to his house on 14 May asking him to call for Ana. At first Boy B said no but then, he said, “I gave in to his whinging”. He went to Ana’s house having agreed with Boy A on where to meet afterwards.
He got Ana and headed to a park and to a specific location – which he was able to point out on an aerial photograph. “This is where I actually met [Boy A],” he said. Along the way he checked the time on Ana’s phone and it was 5.14pm, he said.
He added: “I let Ana talk with [Boy A] for a while. I stayed back to let them have some privacy while they talked. While there, they started walking up the road. I do not know what they said. A little bit later I got bored and left.”
He said he went and got a drink of water from a nearby tap, then went straight home. He added: “That’s the actual truth.”
“I suppose you want an explanation,” he told gardaí. “The reason I told the fake story was because the first time I was with the guards on Tuesday I couldn’t really remember where I went so I made it up, some of it, and since I was scared and nervous I couldn’t really remember so I made it up and once I did remember I thought, I can’t go back, I already made a statement. So I kept to the story.”
Changes story again
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.
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.
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”.
He said he began walking back home through the field when he heard a scream. He said he ran home at this point.
Changes story again
In another section of the interview with gardaí on 25 May last year, Boy B admitted that he actually was in the house on the day of Ana’s death.
While there, he said he picked up a white plank and put it down again. He said he walked outside and then Ana and Boy A started walking in. He said he “tailed them” and then Boy A turned to him and said “Thanks. We’ll be fine. You can go now.”
Detective Garda Daly pushed Boy B further on this and pleaded with him to tell the whole truth, saying that this was something which was going to follow the teenager around for the rest of his life. He was told this was his opportunity to tell gardaí exactly what happened on that early evening on 14 May 2018.
Eventually, Boy B revealed that he saw his co-accused attack Ana. This was the first time the court heard specific details from the accused about what happened in Glenwood House.
“At first, I walked around but then I went back to the carpet area and I saw him flip her and start to choke her. When I saw that, I instantly knew what was happening and I was just shook. I didn’t know what to do.
“She was starting to cry a bit, she kept, like, saying ‘no, no don’t do this’ then Boy A started taking off her clothes but I left before he got to take off the bra.”
He later added: “So as Boy A was taking off her clothes – he looked at the door where I was standing and I sprinted away.” He described the incident to gardaí as “horrifying”.
The aftermath
Boy B said he was “ashamed” of himself that he was too scared to help Ana once he saw her being attacked. He said he was “horrified” and that he went home and tried to forget what he had seen. Boy B said he wanted to go back to the “way things were before”.
It was then put to Boy B that he knew exactly what was going to happen in that room. He once again denied that he did.
Detective Garda Dónal Daly, during the interview, put it to Boy B that he gave three different versions of events in the initial aftermath of Ana’s disappearance on 14 May 2018, “none of which took you to the [abandoned] house”.
Boy B said: “The first time the guards came, my mind was blank. I couldn’t remember what happened so I lied. I was too scared to say I couldn’t remember.” He said that by the afternoon of the 15 May he had remembered what happened “but since I lied I couldn’t go back”.
Detective Garda Daly then accused Boy B of leading gardaí “on a merry dance” and that it was only on 25 May, following his arrest, that he told officers he was actually at the abandoned house. Daly asked him why this was the case.
Boy B said: “I realised that for things to be right I had to tell you.”
Detective Garda Daly responded: “It wasn’t your conscience at you. You tell us a story after we present all the facts and evidence to you. It’s not that you realised that it was right. You only told us the story about you being at the house when we showed you the evidence we had. Why?”
“I don’t know,” Boy B responded.
Detective Daly then questioned Boy B’s account of what happened inside the room where Ana’s body would later be found. The accused said he saw Boy A “stripping” Ana and that he left the house at the point where Boy A had gotten down to her underwear. He said he saw Boy A remove Ana’s hoodie and black top by removing them over her head. However, this is something Detective Daly took issue with.
He said: “That top has been examined by scientists – it’s ripped at the seam- that contradicts her lifting up her hands. Science will show that it was forcibly removed. It was ripped off her. That story you said is ridiculous.
Science doesn’t lie. You’re a clever kid. You understand science. People lie, that’s for sure. Science doesn’t.
Daly, later in that interview, described what he thinks happened that day.
He said: “Boy A says he wants to kill Ana. On 14 May, he asks you to call for Ana and you do. You walk her 25 minutes across the park, you both wear a backpack on your back. He goes there with a backpack on his back which has his murder kit. You saw he was wearing gloves and it wasn’t a cold day. At that stage he knew what he was going there for and you know what you were bringing her there for.”
Boy B responded: “I didn’t.”
Daly continues: “Then you, Boy A and Ana get to the house, you check the coast is clear and it is. Game on. Murder on.”
He added: “I believe you’re part of the murder. You brought Ana there and in your own words – you handed her over to Boy A. Did you not see anything wrong with those words? Handed over, gave to. You brought the prize, you brought her to her death, didn’t you?”
Boy B responded: “No.”
Boy B said that he didn’t think Boy A was going to murder her. He said when he ran away from the house he kept thinking to himself that ‘this can’t be happening’ and that ‘this isn’t real’. He said he didn’t think Boy A would do something like that as it “wasn’t like him”.
Finishing the interview, Detective Garda Donal Daly said: “Can you see why I believe you’re involved? You’re not telling me anything to change my mind. You told us lie after lie after lie. He [Boy A] tells you he wants to kill her, you go and collect a girl he wants to kill – you bring her to an abandoned house, and you, in your words, hand over that girl to him, the girl he said he wanted to kill.
“You’re deceptive after it. You lie to everybody – lie, lie, lie – you try to wriggle out of it. Do you see how this looks? Now is your chance.”
Boy B responds: “I’ve already told you the truth.”
The two sides of Boy B
Defence counsel for Boy B, Damian Colgan, in his closing statement said that the jury was given two versions of who Boy B is: on the one hand, members of the gardaí talked about him as a bright and articulate teenage boy. Colgan then added that “you have his father on the other hand who tells you he’s 13 and likes Transformers, collecting Pokémon cards, someone who likes cartoons…”
He said Boy B is “a child who thought he knew what friends were”. He said “he thought everyone was his friend and he was there to please everyone”.
“What person in their right mind would go to someone’s house where he is known; where he has known Ana for years; then they are seen then crossing the park knowing this girl would be dead in 25 minutes, and that’s what the State are honestly asking you to believe.”
Colgan said that on that date in question, Boy B was seen going across the park and he’s caught on CCTV - he knows there is CCTV in the park and “it doesn’t worry him”. Boy B is also seen by a youth witness on the day who testified that Boy B and Ana appeared to be having a good time, they were “laughing and joking, skipping and jumping”.
He added: “Is it really feasible that someone who made that plan exposes himself to be observed by other people? If this was all so happy-go-lucky, is he the greatest actor, the greatest pretender you’ve ever seen?”
Boy B’s father, in his testimony, said his boy was easily led and tended to believe everything his friends were saying.
He had tried to encourage Boy B to be more interested in sport but testified that he was “very lazy” and didn’t want to go to sport lessons. He spoke of his child’s naivety and his immaturity, citing his interests and hobbies.
The father also said that his son had lost a number of phones and that he only had another so his parents could contact him.
The jury had to answer one question – was Boy B duped by an older, physically stronger boy into luring a child to her death, or did he know that at 5pm on Monday 14 May 2018, he would be knocking on her front door to bring her to an abandoned house where she was to be killed.
The answer came back at 2.13pm on Tuesday afternoon. Guilty.
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