Patrick Quirke’s murder trial has heard he told gardaí his son had recently died when asked about online searches relating to body decomposition.
50-year-old Mr Quirke from Breanshamore, Co Tipperary denies murdering his ex-lover’s boyfriend sometime between June 3rd 2011 and April 30th 2013.
Local DJ Bobby Ryan was in a relationship with Mary Lowry at the time he went missing in June 2011.
Mr Quirke had an affair with Ms Lowry, and he was the one who found Bobby Ryan's body in a run-off tank on her farm in April 2013.
Earlier in the trial, the jurors heard websites relating to DNA evidence and the various stages of decomposition were accessed from his home computer.
Following his arrest in 2014, the jury was told he was asked if he could offer any explanation as to why those searches were carried out on his computer, and he replied: “My son had recently died”
The trial heard previously that his son died in a tragic farm accident in August 2012.
It was then put to him that a search was made the month before, and gardaí claimed that blew his explanation out of the water.
Mr Quirke said if he knew where Bobby’s body was and wanted to check its level of decomposition, he would have just gone there for a look.
