A bloodstained woman who was found naked on a Dublin street after fatally stabbing her 76-year-old mother told a garda at the scene: "I killed my mother, I killed her, she is inside covered in blood."
Opening the prosecution’s case today, Mr James Dwyer SC told the 12 jurors that both the prosecution and defence took the same view in the case and that both sides suggested that Ms Bergin was not guilty of the offence by reason of insanity. Outlining the facts of the case, Mr Dwyer said that the accused Ms Bergin had struggled with her mental health over the years. He said the accused's mother Mary Bergin was originally from Cootehill in Co Cavan and had two children.
The court will also hear evidence, the lawyer said, that gardai found two knives at the scene, one near the front door of the house and the other behind a chest of drawers. He said one of the knives contained the deceased's DNA. There will be evidence, Mr Dwyer said, that CCTV footage showed the accused leaving her mother's home in her dressing gown at 4.37am on April 13 and that she was later seen genuflecting and lying on the ground.
The court heard further evidence will be that during interviews at Store Street Garda Station the accused talked "about the devil being the ruination of souls" and having seen the devil in her mother's eyes. The detective said another garda had noted the accused was highly distressed and that her coat was on the footpath. The accused told the garda: "I had to kill her, I just had to, I need a psychiatrist, he'll know what to do with me....my father is dead in the Mater Hospital".
A priest at the scene told gardai that the accused said to him: "I killed mammy and I want a confession".