The girlfriend of Shane Geoghegan has told the Central Criminal Court that her boyfriend was just minutes from home on the night he was shot dead.
Jenna Barry said she texted the Garryowen rugby player after hearing loud bangs outside their home.
Ms Barry said she opened her front door to see a man running towards a car and immediately rang 999. She then sent a text message to her boyfriend to say she thought there had been a shooting.
Shane Geoghegan died after he was shot five times close to his home at Clonmore, Kilteragh, Dooradoyle, Co Limerick, on 9 November 2008.
Barry Doyle, 24, with addresses at Portland Row, Dublin and Hyde Road, Limerick, has pleaded not guilty to murdering the 28-year-old.
Ms Barry said Mr Geoghegan had been in a friend's house earlier that night and she had called to see him briefly.
She then left to visit his mother and agreed to see him at their home later. That was the last time she saw him alive.
Later that night, shortly after she had received a text from Mr Geoghegan to say he was on his way home, she heard loud bangs outside.
At first, she thought they were fireworks because it was not long after Halloween, but when her dogs continued barking and were 'unusually tense' she opened her front door.
Ms Barry then saw a man running to a car that had its engine running. She said she heard tyres screeching and someone was shouting 'drive'.
She said the car was a navy space wagon, which had its door open. The person who ran from the scene got into the car and it drove away.
After dialling 999, she then sent a text to Mr Geoghegan to say she thought there had been a shooting on the road.
Gardaí told the court they received a 999 call and went to the area. After seeing the windows of a house shattered, they looked around the house.
Mr Geoghegan's body was found slumped at the back door of the house. Ambulance staff said he was dead when they arrived.
It is the prosecution's case that Mr Geoghegan was shot by Mr Doyle in a case of mistaken identity.
A number of witnesses gave evidence about the car believed to have been used in the killing.
The stolen Renault Espace had been parked outside an apartment block for a number of weeks and was moved on the night of the shooting. It was later found burnt out.
