A man has been jailed for life after beating a homeless man to death with a hammer in the Phoenix Park in November 2013 before setting him on fire.
Ciaran Moran, who was also homeless at the time, admitted murdering Gerard Donnelly on the ninth day of his trial.
Mr. Donnelly was an only child and was described as his widowed mother’s “only ray of sunshine in this world”.
The bludgeoned body of the 36 year old was found ablaze at the Phoenix Park in the early hours of November 29th.
One of his toes had been amputated.
The jury heard from a garda who'd met the victim weeks before his death that he had been carrying 8 and a half thousand euro in cash and had over 140 thousand euro on deposit.
Ciaran Moran pleaded not guilty to the murder at the beginning of his trial but changed his plea to guilty when the court ruled that confessions he made to gardai could go before the jury as evidence.
He beat Gerard Donnelly with a lump hammer and the following day went on a spending spree buying headphones and a 600 euro bicycle.
