Murdered brother’s final hours relived at inquest
A jury at the recent inquest of a County Galway man whose body was found in a quarry pond submerged under stones near the Cliffs of Moher has returned a verdict in accordance with the medical evidence into his death.
The inquest was held into the death of Adrian Folan at Clare’s Coroner’s Court.
Last April, Declan Ó Cualáin was found not guilty of murdering his brother, the deceased, by reason of insanity.
Mr Folan, who was 41 at the time of his death, was from Carraroe but had been living in Auburn Close, Athlone, where he was studying for a Masters degree.
In a deposition read to the court Stephen Ellis who was a roommate of Mr Folan at Auburn Close outlined that he had lived with him since September 2013 when Mr Folan had moved in.
He explained that on July 3, 2014 he had received a missed call from Mr Folan at 2.57pm and texted him back to say he was sorry to have missed it, but he got no response. He said there was nothing out of the ordinary with this.
Later that night at 10.18pm Mr Folan called Mr Ellis again and explained that he had a problem with a college project but it was ok now. He then asked if it was ok for his brother, Declan, to stay over in the house on the sitting room couch.
He said the next time he talked to Mr Folan was 11pm when he arrived into the house with his brother Declan. He explained that Declan went upstairs and Mr Folan told him that his brother had suffered a breakdown and was being treated with lithium.
Mr Ellis said “I was trying to include Declan, but he was not interested in our conversation. He asked where the garden was and I pointed it is out there, and then he asked again as if I didn’t answer him”.
He said Declan went out into the garden and he didn’t know if he took a call or went to smoke a cigarette but he came back a few minutes later and his phone rang.
Mr Ellis said he didn’t hear the full conversation but he heard the end of it, where he said, “who do I ask for” and the response was “Jesus Christ”.
When he asked him if that was what was said, Declan said “no” and he replied “I heard that”.
Declan then told them he had left his wallet in a local pub and that he wanted to go and get it. He had his Citroen Berlingo van with him and Mr Ellis said that Mr Folan went with Declan in the van and told him “I’ll be back in a bit”.
Mr Ellis told the inquest that he didn’t see them drive off but he believed they left at 11.30pm at the earliest.
He said he got up early the next morning for work and left at 7.50am. At 11.38am Mr Ellis said he got a call to say that Mr Folan hadn’t come to college and he said this was unlike him because he knew he had a project due that day.
He went back to the house and felt his roommate had not returned home, he then reported him missing to Gardaí as it was “uncharacteristic” of him to go out late drinking.
He went to Dermot Hughes’ Bar to inquire about the wallet Declan said he lost and he said he was told no one had handed in a wallet, and no one had called in about a missing wallet. He was also told there was “no aggro” in the bar that night.
Mr Ellis said he later heard that Declan had gone home and when he had heard this “he got a bad feeling”.
He got a number for Mrs Folan and asked if there had been any news on Mr Folan. He also spoke to his sister, Yvonne, who told him that Declan had gone to Athlone to confront his brother, the deceased.
Mr Ellis said he heard nothing more until July 7, when Declan had confessed to killing his brother.
Garda Superintendent Martin McGonnell read out the deposition of Garda Chris White of Miltown Malbay Garda Station who discovered the body of Mr Folan.
In his statement the garda said they had received limited information that a body had been disposed of at a small quarry close to the Cliffs of Moher and that access to this quarry was on a very rough access road.
He was part of a search party that covered a vast area and which was carried out by local Gardaí with assistance from Superintendents attached to Tuam and Galway City Garda Stations.
“I drove to the Cliffs of Moher checking roads that matched this description. I found a quarry and noticed that earth had been moved and he noticed stones had been moved. It was a straight cut quarry so he said “it looked out of place”.
He observed a pile of rocks in a pond and informed his colleagues that he may have found a body. He moved a rock and he could see a purple sock in the muddy water and confirmed by touch that there was a foot in the sock.
The area, which was at Kilconnell Liscannor, was declared a crime scene.
Detective Inspector John Galvin also gave a deposition which was read into the record, where he said Gardaí were informed on July 7, 2014 that Declan Ó Cualáin had admitted he had killed his brother and disposed of his body in a small pond. He said Ó Cualáin was being treated for bipolar disorder, and had been arrested at his home on suspicion of assault causing serious harm to his brother.
Following the discovery, Alan Folan the brother of the deceased, identified Mr Folan to Gardaí.
State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy gave evidence of performing a postmortem examination on the body of Mr Folan and determined that he died as a result of asphyxia due to compression of the neck by ligature strangulation.
She highlighted in her conclusions that sufficient force was applied to render Mr Folan unconscious quickly and she said, “death would have occurred within minutes”. She stressed there was no evidence to suggest that he was alive when he was put into the water.
County Coroner Isobel O’Dea informed the jury that the most appropriate verdict in her opinion was one in accordance with the medical evidence, and following their deliberations this is what the jury returned.
Ms O’Dea extended her deepest sympathies to members of the Folan family, who were present, on their loss, describing Mr Folan as “a bright young man”. She also acknowledged the work of the Gardaí who found Mr Folan so quickly.