A man has pleaded guilty to the commission of the murder of a man who was shot twice at close range and buried in a shallow grave in Limerick in 2010.
Kurt Ryan (33) went on trial at the Central Criminal Court in Cork earlier this month charged with the murder of Lee Slattery at Delmege Estate, Knocknalisheen Road, Limerick, in 2010.
However, Ryan, of Moylish Crescent in Limerick, was re-arraigned in front of the jury of seven women and five men on Friday.
He pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life on May 28th, 2010, at the Delmege Estate. He also pleaded guilty to the commission of a serious offence, namely murder, in association with a criminal organisation.
The particulars of the offence are that Ryan, who was 17 years old at the time, “did commit a serious offence, to wit, the murder of Lee Slattery, in association with a criminal organisation.”
Michael O’Higgins, prosecuting, said Slattery, who was 25 years old when he was killed, was not a member of an organised criminal gang.
He told Judge Eileen Creedon it was accepted Slattery was “well-liked”. He stated there was “no basis for the killing”, adding the deceased was “wrongly singled out”.
Brian McInerney, defending, said Ryan’s plea was “valuable”. He asked that the case be listed for sentencing in Limerick. The judge said the pleas entered by Ryan were acceptable to the DPP.
She said she had some practical difficulties in relation to holding a sentencing hearing in Limerick.
However, she listed the case for mention in the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on October 27th, when a date for the sentencing hearing will be fixed.
The jury at the trial heard the body of the deceased was discovered on May 31st, 2010. His family were concerned for his welfare as they had not seen him in four days.
His brother Ray, his uncle and two friends went looking for him on the Delmege estate, which had fallen into a state of dereliction.
Ray Slattery said they contacted gardaí when they came upon freshly dug grass, poked around in it, and spotted the fabric of a blue tracksuit similar to the one worn by Slattery.
Retired detective sergeant Shane Curran, who was part of the murder investigation, said Slattery was found in a grave on rough ground “face down in a crouched position, knees bent”.
He said one of the gardaí in the search of the wider area alerted him to an item concealed in a sock close to the roof of a disused outbuilding.
“The sock contained a semi automatic pistol ... a nine-millimetre Star model semi-automatic pistol,” he said.
Then-State pathologist Marie Cassidy carried out the postmortem examination. She recovered a bullet from his right arm.
Her evidence was that he died of a gunshot wound which pierced his heart and lungs. She said it appeared Slattery was dead when he was put in to what was described as a trench. He had two gunshot injuries.
One penetrated the body to cause his death, going through his left arm, continuing in to his body, injuring his lung and heart and continuing in to his right arm.
The other bullet grazed the skin and did not cause internal injuries.
O’Higgins said in his outline of the case that Slattery sold drugs to support his drug habit, while Ryan, who was then 17, was also dealing drugs in the area.
Evidence was also heard at the trial that Ryan called to Slattery’s home when he was missing. Ryan said Slattery owed him €80 for drugs and that he was concerned not to see him around.
The killing was reopened by a cold case unit in 2021.