A man charged with the murder of another man whose body was found off cliffs in Co Donegal after a week-long search has been remanded in custody to allow for a book of evidence to be served in his case.
Alan Vial, 38, appeared by videolink at Letterkenny District Court today.
Vial, from Drumanoo Head, Killybegs has been charged with the murder of Robert Wilkin on the 25th of June, 2023 at a place unknown within the State.
It followed a large-scale search involving Gardai, the Irish Coastguard and other agencies including the Donegal Mountain Rescue team.
Mr Wilkin’s remains were found in the water on July 3rd following the search for his remains at the popular tourism destination.
Vial’s solicitor, Mr Patsy Gallagher asked for the case to be adjourned until September 4th to allow for a book of evidence to be served on his client.
Wearing a grey sweatshirt, Vial spoke briefly when asked if he was happy with the remand in custody saying “Yes, I am.”
Mr Gallagher added that there are also summary matters for Mr Vial but that they are of a different nature.
He also told Mr Vial that he will be in touch for a consultation with his legal counsel.
Mr Wilkin’s remains were found in the water on July 3rd following a week long search for his remains at the popular tourism destination.
It followed a tip-off to Gardai that a serious assault had taken place and an investigation was launched.
A full post-mortem has been carried out on Mr Wilkin’s remain but Gardai have not released the results for operational reasons.