Procesul de omor de la Sliabh Liag: Pensionarul avea leziuni la cap compatibile cu un obiect contondent, spune patologul   

A PENSIONER WHOSE body was found near the bottom of Ireland’s tallest cliffs suffered two depressed fractures to the back of the head that were not in keeping with the pattern of injuries from the fall into the sea, a pathologist has said.
State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster also found bruises to Robert ‘Robin’ Wilkin’s hands that she said were in keeping with offensive or defensive injuries.
The Central Criminal Court trial heard further evidence today from a garda who pepper-sprayed the accused man Alan Vial (39) later on the day of the alleged murder, when Vial became verbally aggressive and confronted a garda at the scene of a car crash.
Nikita Burns (23) of Carrick, Co Donegal and Alan Vial, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, Co Donegal have pleaded not guilty to the murder of 66-year-old Robert ‘Robin’ Wilkin on 25 June 2023 in Donegal.
Robert Wilkin’s body was found eight days after it is alleged Vial and Burns put it over the Sliabh Liag cliffs.
Dr Bolster told prosecuting counsel Emmet Nolan BL that Mr Wilkin was identified using DNA.
It was, she said, a “most difficult case to interpret” due to the level of decomposition and predator damage after eight days in the water. Virtually all the organs had been lost, making it impossible for the pathologist to determine the cause of death.
The fall from a cliff of at least 200 metres meant there was a potential for many of the injuries she observed to have been caused after death. Multiple fractures to all the bones of the face did not have associated bruising, which is in keeping with injuries inflicted after death, she said.
However, two depressed fractures to the back right side of the skull were not in keeping with the pattern of injuries caused by the fall. They were, she said, “more likely to be inflicted with a blunt weapon.”
One of the depressed fractures was associated with an area of bruising of soft tissue. The bruising, Dr Bolster said, shows that the injury was inflicted before death while blood was still flowing in the body.
A rock found near where Mr Wilkin is said to have been thrown over the cliff was “entirely consistent” with having caused the depressed fractures to the skull. Dr Bolster said she was unable to say how severe the brain damage would have been from those injuries but they would have caused “at least concussion if not coma”.
Under cross-examination, Dr Bolster agreed with Shane Costelloe SC, for Vial, that a bruise on the deceased’s foot could have been caused by him kicking violently. The bruising to the deceased’s hands could also have resulted from him striking something with his hand.
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If the rock was used to inflict the injuries to the back of the skull, Dr Bolster agreed that moderate force would have been required. She further agreed that it would have been possible for a healthy female in her 20s to wield the rock and cause those injuries.
The prosecution alleges that Mr Wilkin was inside a Volkswagen Passat for a