57 year old Rose Farrelly was found dead in her own home on the morning of the 15th February 1993. It appeared that the house had been broken into, and then the single woman had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
The trial for Rose’s murder was the first in Ireland to use DNA evidence.But the reason for Rose’s murder remains unclear – it appears the answer may be the most frightening of all.
He did it because he could.
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Theme Music:
Quinn’s Song: The Dance Begins Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Additional Music: Allemande (Sting) by Wahneta Meixsell. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Sources:
Ann O’Loughlin and Bairbre Power, “Pure Evil” in The Evening Herald(16 February 1993) p.p. 1-2
Paul O’Neill, “Robberies linked to murder of woman” in The Irish Times(17 February 1993) p. 2.
Ann O’Loughlin and Bairbre Power, “Rose killing: gardai probe burglaries” in The Evening Herald(17 February 1993) p. 2.
Paul O’Neill, “Faulty lock on victim’s door” in The Irish Times (18 February 1993) p. 8.
“Murder hunt: 500 houses visited” in The Evening Herald(20 February 1993) p. 7
Paul O’Neill, “Garda file for DPP on woman’s murder” in The Irish Times (22 February 1993) p. 2.
“Murdered woman was also raped” in The Irish Times(4 March 1993) p. 2.
“Dublin man on murder charge” in The Irish Times(27 April 1993) p. 4.
“Ring cut from woman’s finger, murder trial told” in The Irish Times (4 February 1994) p. 4.
Mary Carolan, “Murder trial told of brutal sex attack” in The Irish Times (4 February 1994) p 6
“Woman died from asphyxia, murder trial told” in The Irish Times(5 February 1994) p. 4.
“Pathologist says victim may have been smothered” in The Irish Times(8 February 1994) p. 4.
Mary Carolan, “Attacker smothered woman (57) court told” in The Irish Independent (8 February 1994) p. 6.
“Sharp knife was used on hand, hair of dead woman, court hears” in The Irish Times (9 February 1994) p. 5
“Adjournment in murder trial” in The Irish Times(10 February 1994) p. 4.
Mary Carolan, “Trial told of ‘red-haired man’ in pub” in The Irish Independent (11 February 1994) p. 4.
“Man had been in pub near murder scene” in The Irish Times(11 February 1994) p. 4.
“Murder trial told of silhouette at disabled woman’s window” in The Irish Times (12 February 1994) p. 6.
Mary Carolan, “Murder trial suspect ‘told witness to keep watch’” in The Irish Independent(15 February 1994) p. 4.
“Witness alleges he accompanied red-haired man to door of dead woman’s house” in The Irish Times (15 February 1994) p. 7.
“Witness describes repeated vicious assaults” in The Irish Independent (16 February 1994) p. 16.
“Red-haired man shouted abuse and lay on woman’s body, court told” in The Irish Times (16 February 1994) p. 4.
Mary Carolan, “Trial told witness to killing ‘all caught up by his lies’” in The Irish Independent(17 February 1994) p. 4.
“Murder trial jury told red-haired man seen fiddling with shoe on body” in The Irish Times (17 February 1994) p. 4.
“’I’m being listed for murder’ call claim” in The Irish Independent (18 February 1994) p. 6.
“Man thought arrest was for murder, court told” in The Irish Times(18 February 1994) p. 6.
Mary Carolan, “New hearing ordered after murder jury discharged” in The Irish Independent (19 February 1994) p. 12.
“Judge orders new trial in murder case” in The Irish Times(19 February 1994) p. 9“Man pleads not guilty to murder” in The Irish Times(4 October 1995) p. 4
Mary Carolan, Burglar ‘used handbag to choke woman’” in The Irish Independent (5 October 1995) p. 9
“Dublin man accused of strangling woman” in The Irish Times(5 October 1995) p. 4
“Woman died of asphyxia, murder trial jury told” in The Irish Times (6 October 1995) p. 4.
Mary Carolan, “Murder victims ‘too disabled to fight back’” in The Irish Independent (7 October 1995“Nun tells court of fears for sister” in The Irish Times(7 October 1995) p. 4
Mary Carolan, “Man was seen crouched near murder house” in The Irish Independent (10 October 1995) p. 4.“
Murder trial told of man crouching at front door” in The Irish Times (10 October 1995) p. 4.
“Jury sent away in murder trial” in The Irish Times(11 October 1995) p. 4.
Diarmaid MacDermott, “Murder trial resumes after legal argument” in The Irish Independent (10 November 1995) p. 9
“Jury returns to murder trial after four weeks” in The Irish Times (10 November 1995) p. 4
“Murder trial witness admits to lying to gardai” in The Irish Independent (16 November 1995) p. 7
“Man tells of seeing disabled woman punched and chocked” in The Irish Times (16 November 1995) p. 4
“Witness denies he lied about death of disabled woman” in The Irish Times (17 November 1995) p. 4
.“Court told fibres on clothing matched defendant’s shoes” in The Irish Times (18 November 1995) p. 4.
“Accused’s runners ‘linked to murder’” in The Irish Independent (21 November 1995) p. 4.
“Jury hears defendant left tracks” in The Irish Times(21 November 1995) p. 4.
“DNA profile matched stain on jumper, says scientist” in The Irish Times (24 November 1995) p. 4.
“Scientist says she is not aware of any DNA error” in The Irish Times (25 November 1995) p. 4.
“Murder verdict due” in The Irish Independent(1 December 1995) p. 4.
“Verdict due in murder trial” in The Irish Times(1 December 1995) p. 4
“Rose’s killer: Jail for life” in The Evening Herald(2 December 1995) p. 1.
Stephen Rae, “Trusting cripple’s cruel death after life of prayer” in The Irish Independent (4 December 1995) p. 6.
Mary Carolan, “Spinster’s savage murderer gets life” in The Irish Independent (4 December 1995) p. 6.
“Murderer of disabled Dublin woman jailed for life” in The Irish Times (4 December 1995) p. 12.
“Man serving life sentence receives further 9 years” in The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/news/man-serving-life-sentence-receives-further-9-years-1.36766 (28 March 1996) p. 4
Diarmaid MacDermott, “Murderer gets another nine years” in The Irish Independent (28 March 1996) p. 9.
“Dublin man loses murder appeal” in The Irish Timeshttps://www.irishtimes.com/news/dublin-man-loses-murder-appeal-1.285113(27 February 2001) p. 4
.Michelle Hennessy, “People forgot this baby was stabbed: Why did it take so long to test baby John DNA?”from The Journal.ie https://www.thejournal.ie/kerry-baby-dna-3802356-Jan2018/ (20 January 2018)
Report: The establishment of a DNA database, The Law Reform Commission 2005 https://www.lawreform.ie/_fileupload/Reports/rDNADatabase.pdf
“Consultation Paper on the establishment of a DNA database” (LRC CP 29 – 2004) The Law Reform Commission https://www.lawreform.ie/_fileupload/consultation%20papers/cp29.htm#sdfootnote635sym March 2004
“Minister Fitzgerald announces launch of new DNA database system” (13 November 2015) https://www.justice.ie/en/JELR/Pages/PR15000588
Women’s Aid Femicide Watch https://www.womensaid.ie/about/campaigns/femicide-in-ireland.html