Man, 38, charged with murder of Co Tyrone man after body found in water

A 38-year-old man has been charged with murder after a body was recovered from the water beneath Slieve League mountain in Co Donegal.

Alan Vial, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, was charged with the murder of Robert Wilkin, originally from Northern Ireland, at an unknown place on Sunday 25 June.

Vial appeared before a special sitting of Ballyshannon District Court on Friday afternoon.

He did not speak during the hearing.

The defence moved that Vial be assisted with medical requirements while in custody.

No application for bail was made during the brief court hearing.

A Garda officer told the court that he had arrested Vial in Ballyshannon Garda Station and charged him with the murder earlier on Friday.

The officer said that after being charged and cautioned, Vial made no reply.

Vial was remanded in custody by Judge Eiteain Cunningham and will appear in Letterkenny District Court again on Monday.

Vial was previously arrested last month, along with a woman in her 20s, on suspicion of a serious assault following information received by Irish police.

A major search operation was initiated on the Donegal mountain and the coastal waters below it in the days following the report.

A body was discovered on 3 July.

Vial was rearrested by police on Thursday.


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