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January 30th, 1972 stands as arguably the most deadly – and significant – occasions during multiple decades of conflict in this area.

In the streets where it happened – the legacy of Bloody Sunday are painted on the structures and embedded in collective memory.

A public gathering was organized on a cold but bright day in Derry.

The march was a protest against the practice of detention without trial – detaining individuals without trial – which had been established following three years of conflict.

Soldiers from the elite army unit shot dead thirteen individuals in the neighborhood – which was, and continues to be, a overwhelmingly Irish nationalist area.

A specific visual became especially memorable.

Images showed a Catholic priest, Fr Edward Daly, using a stained with blood cloth as he tried to shield a group carrying a young man, the fatally wounded individual, who had been fatally wounded.

News camera operators recorded extensive video on the day.

Documented accounts features Fr Daly explaining to a journalist that military personnel "gave the impression they would fire in all directions" and he was "totally convinced" that there was no justification for the shooting.

This account of what happened wasn't accepted by the original examination.

The first investigation found the soldiers had been fired upon initially.

Throughout the resolution efforts, the ruling party established another inquiry, after campaigning by family members, who said the first investigation had been a cover-up.

In 2010, the findings by the investigation said that overall, the paratroopers had initiated shooting and that not one of the individuals had been armed.

The contemporary government leader, the Prime Minister, issued an apology in the government chamber – declaring fatalities were "without justification and unacceptable."

The police commenced look into the events.

A military veteran, identified as the accused, was charged for homicide.

He was charged regarding the deaths of James Wray, twenty-two, and twenty-six-year-old the second individual.

The accused was additionally charged of trying to kill several people, Joseph Friel, Joe Mahon, another person, and an unidentified individual.

Remains a legal order maintaining the soldier's privacy, which his attorneys have argued is required because he is at danger.

He told the examination that he had solely shot at people who were armed.

The statement was disputed in the concluding document.

Information from the examination was unable to be used directly as testimony in the court case.

In court, the accused was screened from view behind a protective barrier.

He made statements for the initial occasion in court at a proceeding in late 2024, to reply "not guilty" when the allegations were presented.

Family members of the victims on that day made the trip from Londonderry to the judicial building daily of the trial.

A family member, whose relative was killed, said they always knew that listening to the case would be emotional.

"I can see the events in my mind's eye," John said, as we walked around the main locations referenced in the case – from Rossville Street, where his brother was shot dead, to the adjoining the courtyard, where James Wray and William McKinney were fatally wounded.

"It reminds me to where I was that day.

"I participated in moving the victim and lay him in the ambulance.

"I relived each detail during the evidence.

"But even with experiencing all that – it's still worthwhile for me."