Pair who murdered man thrown over cliffs jailed for life
Social mediaThe family of a man who was thrown over iconic Irish cliffs have described his "evil" murder as "callous and unnecessary".
Alan Vial and Nikita Burns, were convicted of murdering 66-year-old Robert Wilkin by majorities of 10 to two at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on Thursday.
The pair were sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday.
Vial, 39, of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs, County Donegal and Burns, 23, from An Charraig, County Donegal, both denied the murder.
The body of Mr Wilkin, who was also known as Robin, was found in the sea at the bottom of the cliffs at Slieve League, eight days after he was murdered on 25 June 2023.
During the sentencing hearing, a statement on behalf of Mr Wilkin's family described the time since his murder as "an agonising journey filled with grief, denial and undoubtedly anger".
The statement, read to the court by Mr Wilkin's sister Irene McAleer on behalf of herself, her brother David and sister Marie, stated that "the brutal nature of his death is something that none of us will ever come to terms with".
'Harrowing details'
HandoutCommenting on her daily attendance at the trial at Dublin's Central Criminal Court, Mrs McAleer said "nothing or no one could have prepared me for the evil and harrowing details".
Her statement added: "To sit in the same room with those two cold, calculating individuals has been so difficult.
"The fact neither of these individuals have shown a grain of remorse has been very overwhelming at times."
Her family also paid tribute to the Garda (Irish police) investigation into the murder of their brother and thanked key witnesses "for their bravery in coming forward and appearing in court".
Ms McAleer also added: "I'd like to take this opportunity to declare that contrary to reports that Robin was estranged from his family, he was in fact just travelling his own path and had lost regular contact with us, as many siblings do.
"Robin's callous and unnecessary murder has deprived us all the chance to reconnect now that our own lives are slowing down," she said.
The statement concluded: "As a family, this isn't the end for us. Our grieving will begin now in whichever way we can navigate through it."
Speaking to BBC News NI , Ms McAleer said it had been a "few very hard days".
"I wasn't going to let it break me ... I couldn't have people thinking his family hadn't come looking for him," she added.
Mr Wilkin and his two killers had only known each other for a number of weeks.
They had spent an evening drinking together in local pubs in the hours before his murder.
After leaving a pub in the village of Dunkineely they were driving back to Vial's home, where all three had lived together at times, when a row broke out and Mr Wilkin was beaten on the head with a rock.
He was then driven about 14 miles along the coastline to the renowned Slieve League cliffs.
During the murder trial, Vial explained what happened when he admitted that he drove to Slieve League "to get rid of the body" in the early hours of the morning.
"We got him up onto the fence and then we dropped him to the other side, and he rolled from there off the edge of the cliff," he said.
The killer, who was described by his barrister during the trial as "a petty criminal and an alcoholic", also said they returned to the scene twice to see if the body was visible or "if anyone had noticed anything".
The court heard that Burns had "a difficult upbringing".
The search for Robin Wilkin's body led to a complex and challenging week-long air, sea and land search and recovery operation before his body could eventually be recovered from the treacherous Atlantic waters along the Slieve League cliffs.
The recovery of his body ensured that his two killers failed in their attempt to get away with murder.