Man killed best friend then posted condolence messages on Facebook to cover his tracks

Darren Wynne, 21, was jailed for life for murdering Jamie Lindsay with a sawn-off shotgun at point blank range

Darren Wynne

A man who killed his best friend tried to cover his tracks by posting a condolence message on Facebook just hours after shooting him to death.

Darren Wynne, 21, was jailed for life yesterday after he was found guilty of murdering Jamie “Marley” Lindsay in April last year.

He shot the 20-year-old in his right eye at almost point blank range with a sawn-off shotgun after they had made threats to each other.

The Irish Mirror revealed how Wynne, 21, posted messages of condolence online shortly after he murdered his pal in Athy, Co Kildare, in the Republic of Ireland.

In a bid to cover his tracks, just hours after the murder he wrote: “R. I. P marley u be missd.”

And just days later he posted another gushing message: “RIP Jamie u be sadly missd u were like a bro to me u dne alot for me and alot other people.”

But gardai saw through Wynne’s web of lies and at the Central Criminal Court yesterday he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder.

Jamie Lindsay who was murdered by Darren Wynne

 

He pleaded guilty to manslaughter during his trial but the plea was not accepted by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

And on July 10 the jury returned a unanimous verdict of guilty of murder.

Wynne was also convicted of possession of a sawn-off shotgun and ammunition with intent to endanger life on the same occasion.

Before he was sentenced by Mr Justice Garrett Sheehan, Wynne posted on Facebook: “I’ve got 99 problems and prison ain’t one of them.”

Two other men, Quentin Monaghan, 21, of Tullamoy, Stradbally, Co Laois, and 21-year-old James Seery, of Canal Side, Athy, are also due to be sentenced after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

They also admitted possession of a sawn-off shotgun and cartridges in suspicious circumstances on the same date.

Wynne told gardai Mr Lindsay was threatening him over €1,000 for cannabis herb that had gone missing and also threatened to rape his grandmother.

Darren Wynne's Facebook post

 

He said he shot his pal in the shoulder and only wanted to kneecap him, not kill him.

Wynne’s lawyer raised the defence of provocation and also said the gun used was capable of accidental discharge.

Monaghan’s ex-girlfriend Jodie Browne, 22, told prosecution lawyer Paul Coffey the couple met Wynne and Seery at a graveyard that day.

She added Wynne had a gun and that Monaghan said he wanted to buy it.

Ms Browne said Wynne came back to the car with the firearm and they went to a forest where Monaghan was shooting at trees.

She told the court they drove to the Coneyboro estate and they were going to give Mr Lindsay a scare. Ms Browne added: “They would shoot the wall and scare him.”

She testified that Wynne said “he’d kneecap him”.

Ms Browne said Seery sent a text and then they saw Mr Lindsay appear down the alley.

She added: “Darren [Wynne] shot him… he was right in front of him.”

Darren Wynne who murdered Jamie Lindsay

 

Ms Browne told the court they were facing each other and were “very close” when the accused blasted him.

She said: “He [Wynne] said, ‘I only shot him in the shoulder’.”

Ms Browne said Wynne told Monaghan to drive or “he’d do the same to him”.

She added they drove back to Monaghan’s house and Wynne and Seery burnt their clothes. Ms Browne said Monaghan buried the gun.

Witness PJ Hickey testified that when Wynne called to his house after the incident he seemed “panicky” and was beating on the windows and doors.

He told the court: “He said, ‘Let me in, let me in. I need an alibi. I’m after shooting him’.”

Mr Hickey said they later walked up to a garage and Wynne told him he shot Mr Lindsay. He added: “He just said he got too big for his boots, [that] ‘It was either him or me’.”

Mr Hickey said Wynne got a bottle of Dettol in the garage and said he had to wash the gunpowder off him.

He added that when he met Wynne the next day he was distant. Mr Hickey said: “He wasn’t himself at all… he was after shooting his best friend in the face.”

Under cross-examination by Wynne’s lawyer James Kelly he agreed the accused was panicky and had asked him for an alibi at the front door.

He added he immediately gave him that alibi and then made a second statement to gardai retracting it.

Mr Hickey said: “He was always going on about shooting someone… He’s after shooting someone in the face who was meant to be his best friend.”

Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis told the court the cause of death was a shotgun wound to the head.

He added Mr Lindsay’s right eye was completely destroyed and there were extensive fractures to the skull.

Dr Curtis said there was evidence the shot was discharged from a couple of feet or so. He added that if the gun had been fired at knee level it would most likely result in a limb injury.