A 33-year-old man who lured his friend to his death is facing life in prison after he pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court today to his murder.
Neil Fitzgerald was shot six times and was found lying on the ground at Crooksling in Co Dublin on 5 June 2016.
Conor Dolan, of Ashbrook Apartments in Dublin, originally denied the charge but changed his plea to guilty this afternoon.
Mr Fitzgerald was found shot dead at Hills Lane, a rural country lane in the townland off the road from Tallaght to Blessington.
The 36-year-old sustained nine bullet wounds, three of which were exit wounds after he had been shot six times just after midnight.
Dolan was a friend of Mr Fitzgerald and told gardaí that Mr Fitzgerald trusted him.
However, Dolan lured his friend to his death.
Both were in Dolan's distinctive purple car when gardaí stopped and searched it in Tallaght an hour-and-a-half before the murder.
Senior counsel Lorcan Staines told the jury that Dolan got his car washed the day before the murder, but when the gardaí seized it 11 hours later, Mr Fitzgerald's palm marks were found on the boot.
He said circumstantial evidence would prove that Dolan arranged to pick up his friend from a pub in Tallaght before driving to the place where his body was later found.
Dolan also returned to the murder scene at 8am the following morning.
He originally denied the murder, but following delays to the trial this afternoon, he was rearraigned and pleaded guilty to the murder of Mr Fitzgerald.
