Two sentenced to life for the Sliabh Liag cliffs murder of Robert Wilkin, 66, in a callous crime.
Alan Vial, 39, and Nikita Burns, 24, committed the crime. They threw Wilkin off Sliabh Liag cliffs. This happened on June 25, 2023. Dublin’s Central Criminal Court delivered the sentence. Vial had prior convictions, mostly traffic violations. Burns had no prior record.
Wilkin was from Omagh and had siblings. Irene McAleer, Wilkin’s sister, spoke about the impact. She said they looked up to her brother. She called the murderers cold and calculating.
The sentencing gave the family some closure. Hearing the evidence was hard for them. This was a very emotional experience. The family felt sickened by the killer’s attitude.
McAleer said the family has had a difficult journey. They felt grief, anger, and denial toward this terrible crime. The family struggles to accept such a brutal death. They will never truly get over this event.
Sitting near the killers was extremely difficult too. Neither of them showed any remorse. Wilkin wasn’t estranged from his family contrary to some reports. He’d simply lost regular contact with them. His death robbed the family of a chance to reconnect.
The family will never forget the details of his death. Vial and Burns treated his life as worthless. They dumped his body without regard. Listening to the gruesome evidence was harrowing.
The family has unanswered questions. They want to know if he suffered. The judge heard how much pain the family went through. He praised the police for their hard work. Gardai showed professionalism in the difficult investigation. He then sentenced Vial and Burns to life in prison for their crime.