A MAN accused of killing his mother before dismembering and burying her body in a shallow grave told a work colleague he had done "something bad", a court has heard.
Matthew Hagan, 26, told the High Court in Edinburgh about a conversation he had with James Dunleavy - who is on trial for the murder of his mother Philomena Dunleavy - whilst working together on the Edinburgh tram project.
The court also heard that whilst working the pair operated jackhammers to smash through concrete.
Mr Hagan said the accused told him he was going away but would not explain why.
"He said he had done something he wasn't proud of," he added.
"He said he had done something bad, something he was ashamed of but he wouldn't reveal to me what it was."
A cyclist also told the jury earlier this week how he came across the remains of a Dublin-born pensioner while enjoying an Edinburgh beauty spot as the murder trial into her death opened this week.
Ski instructor Aaron McLean-Foreman explained that he was relaxing on Corstorphine Hill in Edinburgh last year when he made the horror discovery of a set of human teeth and a skull in a woodland clearing.
They were later identified as the remains of Philomena Dunleavy from Marino in Dublin, after a police search uncovered the 66-year-old’s dismembered body buried in a shallow grave at the nature reserve.
While giving evidence at Edinburgh’s High Court, the 24-year-old from East Craigs, explained that he had spent the morning of June 6 cycling before stopping for a break on the hill.
“I decided to have a break in the sunshine and relax and enjoy the fine weather,” Mr McLean-Foreman told the court on the opening day of the trial.
“Almost immediately, the first thing I noticed was very white teeth,” he added.
The trial is taking place at the High Court in Edinburgh“I have seen a fair share of sheep skulls and deer skulls while walking in the hills. I wanted to believe that was what I was looking at. I believe I went into a state of shock.”
Later that afternoon he reported the finding to the police, who uncovered the rest of the Irishwoman’s body.
Her son Mr Dunleavy, also known as Seamus, is on trial for her murder, accused of beheading the pensioner before burying her dismembered body.
He denies battering her to death between April 30 and May 7 last year.
He also denies attempting to cover up the alleged murder and destroy the evidence.
The 40-year-old was living in a flat in Edinburgh’s Balgreen Road, close to where the body was uncovered, at the time.
The prosecution alleges that Mr Dunleavy inflicted ‘blunt force trauma’ on his mother, compressed her throat and cut off her head and legs with a blade and something like a saw.
A second charge accuses Mr Dunleavy of pretending his mother was unwell and had returned to Ireland.
It is further alleged that he put his mother’s torso, severed legs and head into a suitcase and took the dismembered body to Corstorphine Hill where he buried her.
Prosecutors also claim that Mr Dunleavy vacuumed and washed his flat to remove blood stains and set fire to a bed and mattress.
The trial continues.
