Kayden McGuinness murder: Accused became suspect after post mortem examination

THE jury on the trial of a man accused of killing Kayden McGuinness has been told the accused became a suspect in the case following the findings of a preliminary post mortem.

Liam Whoriskey, 25, of Glenabbey Gardens in the city, denies murdering the three-year-old boy just over two years ago.

The toddler was found dead in his Colmcille Court home on Sunday, September 17.

It is the prosecution case that Kayden died as a result of blunt force trauma injuries to his head.

He also had a fractured rib.

The BBC reports that on the tenth day of the trial, the jury of seven men and five women today heard transcripts of several statements the waiter made to police.

Derry Crown Court was told the accused was first interviewed by police in the hours after he discovered the toddler’s body around 10 am that Sunday morning.

During three interviews on September 17, 2017, the defendant was questioned as a significant witness and not as a suspect.

However, following the preliminary findings of a post mortem, the defendant was interviewed as a suspect on three occasions, in the presence of his solicitor, on September 23, 2017.

He was again interviewed as a suspect on June 11, 2018.

Jurors were told that in his first interview as a significant witness, the defendant described Kayden McGuinness as “a loveable wee wain”.

In one of the interviews as a suspect, the defendant said he saw Kayden’s mother Erin McLaughlin going into the child’s bedroom just before she went out for the night.

The court heard the accused heard Ms McLaughlin saying “night night, mummy loves you”.

The defendant told police that he then heard Kayden talking himself to sleep for between ten and fifteen minutes.

At hearing.

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