Murder victim Odhran Kelly was allegedly subjected to a “prolonged violent assault using weapons”, a court has heard.
Craigavon Magistrates Court also heard that despite CCTV showing he was in the Edward Street flat where Mr Kelly (23) was beaten to death for 97 minutes, Shane Harte (32) denies seeing the victim at any stage.
CCTV also allegedly captures co-accused Gary Scullion (31) and two women carrying Mr Kelly’s body from the flat.
Harte applied for bail on Friday, but District Judge Francis Rafferty refused.
Harte, from Headington House and Scullion of Edward Street, both in Lurgan, are charged with the murder of Mr Kelly on December 3 2023.
Andrea Stevenson (43), Stephanie McClelland (36) and Crystal Angela Redden (30) also face charges arising from the death.
The court previously heard police discovered the “badly burnt body” of Mr Kelly after they were called to a car on fire on Edward Street.
In court on Friday, police said officers were confronted by what “could only be described as a horrific scene”.
While focusing mainly on Harte, police gave details about timings of others’ movements during that morning.
Objecting to bail, the detective described how Mr Kelly was murdered in a “prolonged, violent assault using weapons that caused fatal injuries”.
“He was found in a position where he was unable to defend himself or call for help and we firmly believe that this defendant is linked to the murder,” declared the officer.
During cross-examination, defence counsel David McKeown suggested to the officer and she agreed that “police believe” Mr Kelly had been murdered while Harte was in the flat and although she agreed there was no forensic evidence linking Harte to the flat, the officer added that investigators are awaiting forensic results.
Conceding “this is obviously a serious case,” he submitted that evidence against Harte “is probably the weakest” of those charged, so with a proposed bail address outside of the area “he is a suitable candidate for bail and he can be managed with appropriate conditions”.
Refusing bail, DJ Rafferty adjourned the cases against all the defendants to March 1.