The jury in the trial of two men accused of beating another man to death have viewed a Snapchat video allegedly showing the victim lying bloodied on the ground.
Viorel Doroscan, who is 23 and of Bay Meadows Square, Hollystown in Dublin, and 24-year-old Otniel Richardo Clejan, with a former address at Verdemont, Blanchardstown in Dublin, have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mahamud Ilyas on 9 December 2022.
He was allegedly beaten to death after a row over a stolen bag of cannabis, sustaining depressed fractures to his head which a State pathologist said were "typical of hammer blows".
At the Central Criminal Court, trial judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt briefed the jury before it watched the video, saying that it must approach the evidence in an "unemotional and dispassionate" manner, despite its potentially upsetting contents.
It showed a man lying on the ground with blood on his face and a blood stain on the wall behind him.
The video-taker is seen moving closer to the man's head and the video-taker's shoe can be seen briefly.
Detective Inspector Liam Donoghue, of Blanchardstown Garda Station, told prosecution counsel Eoin Lawlor that he contacted Snapchat's office in the United States to request that it preserve data in regards to Mr Doroscan, Mr Ilyas and Mr Clejan.
He said he believed that Mr Doroscan had possession of a video relating to Mr Ilyas.
Det Insp Donoghue proceeded to show a comparison of the shoe in the video and CCTV footage of Mr Doroscan on the same day, wearing shoes that he said visually matched those in the clip.
He said the video, which was posted as a 'memory' on the Snapchat app, was confirmed to have come from Mr Doroscan’s account and metadata provided by the company showed that it had been taken at 2.51pm on 9 December 2022 in the area of the Verdemont estate in Blanchardstown.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster previously told Mr Lawlor that the cause of Mr Ilyas' death was blunt force trauma to the head from a blunt object such as a hammer, blows and kicks.
Last week, witness Abdi-Aziz Mohamed testified that he met Mr Doroscan on 9 December 2022 when the accused allegedly told him that "we hit Mo with a hammer" - meaning the deceased Mahamud Ilyas - during a fight before leaving him "on a field".
At the opening of the trial, Mr Lawlor said the prosecution intended to show that Mr Doroscan and Mr Clejan were involved in the sale and supply of drugs.
On 8 December 2022, the senior counsel said, a house at Verdemont was being used to store cannabis.
That evening Mr Ilyas called to the house and was seen leaving with a shopping bag containing drugs.
Mr Lawlor said Mr Ilyas "wasn’t supposed to" take the cannabis and then tried to sell it to others.
The following afternoon, Mr Lawlor said, Mr Doroscan made contact with Mr Ilyas and told him he wished to speak to him urgently. Mr Ilyas went into the house at Verdemont at about 2.41pm.
Witness Vlady Ndosimau previously told the trial that he was at the bottom of the steps when Mr Ilyas went inside but ran up and barged through the door after hearing a loud banging noise.
Inside, he said he witnessed Mr Ilyas sitting on the floor, with his back against a radiator, looking as if he had been beaten and with blood coming from his nose.
His hands and feet were tied using a rope or a cable tie and he was moaning while Mr Clejan and Mr Doroscan shouted at him, the witness said.
Mr Doroscan, holding a fruit knife, stood between Mr Ilyas's legs while Mr Clejan stood close to his head with a hammer in his hand, the witness said.
Mr Doroscan, he said, kept on shouting "where is the stuff" while Mr Ilyas responded by "groaning and groaning".
The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Tony Hunt and a jury of five women and seven men.
Co-accused 21-year-old Lorenzo Cantaragiu, of Castlegrange Park, Blanchardstown, faces various charges of impeding the prosecution or apprehension of Mr Clejan and Mr Doroscan, by committing various acts while knowing or believing them to have committed the offence of causing serious harm to Mr Ilyas.
He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
