A man on trial for his ex-girlfriend’s murder told gardaí he didn’t want to kill her but that if he did, he could have.
Daniel Murtagh, of Melrose Grove, Bawnogue, Clondalkin, Dublin 22, has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Nadine Lott, but denies her murder.
Murtagh was arrested and taken in for questioning after he attacked Nadine Lott in her home in Arklow, Co Wicklow, just before Christmas 2019
She was fighting for her life in hospital at the time, but died from her injuries a few days later.
He said he could have hit her eight times after she came home from a night out.
He claimed she slapped him first and he described what happened next as a frenzy with him just standing over her and pounding down on her.
He denied it was premeditated and insisted he didn’t want to kill her.
“If I wanted to kill her, I could have,” he said.
He said part of him thought she was down the road with another man.
He insisted she was alive when he left her.
“Her eyes were open,” he said. “I thought she’d get up.”
