The Central Criminal Court has heard that a 52-year-old man accused of murdering his wife has admitted that they were alone in the house at the time she suffered the injuries that led to her death.
Lawyers for Eamonn Lillis made the admission on the first day of his trial for the murder of his 46-year-old wife Celine Cawley.
Mr Lillis denies the murder of his wife on 15 December 2008 at their home, Rowan Hill, on Windgate Road in Howth.
The court also heard that Mr Lillis was having a relationship with another woman in the months before his wife's death.
The emergency call made by Mr Lillis just after 10am on 15 December 2008 was played to the jury this afternoon.
A gasping Mr Lillis is heard telling the fire officer that he and his wife have been assaulted and that his wife is not breathing.
Gardaí described how they found Ms Cawley's body on the decking at the back of the house. There was a brick with blood on it nearby.
The six men and six women on the jury were told that there will be evidence that Ms Cawley received three blows to her head, two of them while she was lying face down on the ground.
Mr Lillis told gardaí he had arrived back from walking his dogs to find a man wearing a balaclava crouched over his wife with a brick. He said he had also been attacked before the man escaped.
But his lawyers told the court today that he admitted he had lied to gardaí and there had been no intruder. The court also heard that clothes stained with Ms Cawley's blood were found in a bag in the attic of the house.
The jury was told there will be evidence that Mr Lillis was in a relationship with another woman in the months before his wife's death.
The jury will hear there was a struggle between Mr Lillis and his wife during which she slipped on the decking again.
