ONE of two Belfast men murdered within hours of each other allegedly received a phone call from a man accused of involvement in the killings just hours before he died, a court has heard.
It is the prosecution case that Gerard Lagan (43), originally from Butler Walk in Belfast, lured Edward Burns and Joseph Jones to their deaths and subsequently fled to the Republic.
He is accused of involvement in the murders on March 12 2007 with the prosecution case he "acted with others on the night in question and was instrumental in the joint enterprise to murder these two men".
The Diplock-style non-jury Belfast Crown court trial heard Mr Burns (36), from Ardoyne, was found shot in the head in a carpark at Bog Meadows around 4.30am, while Poleglass man Mr Jones (38), was discovered battered to death in an alleyway in Ardoyne three hours later.
Mr Lagan, whose address on court papers is Ratheen Close, Tallaght in Dublin, denies the murders.
Trial judge Mr Justice O'Hara, sitting in Antrim, was told Mr Lagan could allegedly be traced to the various locations through a mobile phone attributed to him and by the GPS tracking data of a Ford Focus car.
Detailing the murder of Mr Burns, the court heard he went to his girlfriend's home and around 2am his mobile kept ringing, which he initially ignored and then answered at 2.30am.
Mr Burns, described as looking concerned, was heard to say: "I'll not be long; I'll be there" and mentioned the name "Gerard" and before leaving told his girlfriend: "If you don't hear from me contact Joe; tell him that I have gone to meet Blockhead."
It is the prosecution case the call came from the mobile attributed to Mr Lagan and the "telephone was contacting Edward Burns to bring him to the scene of his eventual murder and this contact would be consistent with the evidence of his girlfriend regarding telephone calls received by Mr Burns".
A post mortem revealed he was shot through his left hand, the bullet entering the left side of his head above and behind his left ear, although the possibility of him being "hit with two bullets ... 'cannot be completely excluded' and he was shot at "fairly close range, within about 15cm".
Turning to Mr Jones' murder, the court heard he tried calling Mr Burns, even shortly before he himself was fatally attacked, but was unsuccessful.
However, Mr Lagan's alleged phone called him on three occasions and it was the prosecution case "these calls were intended to, and were successful at, bringing Mr Jones to the scene of his murder".
The court heard residents in Elmfield Street in Ardoyne heard a commotion in an adjacent alleyway with one man, who was watching TV between 4am and 4.15am, hearing "a heavy thumping sound" and initially thought it was someone "attempting to kick a door in".
He said he also "heard two males laughing" followed by a third man running.
The severity of Mr Jones' injuries meant he had to be identified by his fingerprints with "the cause of death to be a laceration of the brain associated with comminuted fractures of the skull".
It is believed the injuries were "caused by multiple blows from a weapon with a relatively sharp linear edge and which was wielded with considerable force ... by blows from the blade of a spade similar to the item".
The court heard that remains of a badly burned spade were later recovered.
The trial continues.
