In April of 2015, two countries were gripped by the disappearance of a 24 year old nurse. Karen Buckley, from Co. Cork had gone on a night out in Glasgow’s busy West End. But she didn’t return home.
Quickly a police search for the missing woman was up and running. But it would prove to be too late. Karen’s fate was sealed mere minutes after she told her friends goodbye.
Continue reading “41 – Attacked: The murder of Karen Buckley”In September of 2006, Melissa Mahon (14) went missing in Sligo Town. She was supposed to in the care of the Health Service, but she had developed a habit of running away. That summer, she had met some new friends. The Dunbar girls. And through them, their father, Ronnie Dunbar. Nearly two years later, Melissa’s remains would be found in the nearby River Bonet after a shocking confession of her friend.
Continue reading “40 – Chaos, Neglect & Abuse: The Killing of Melissa Mahon”Early on a December morning, in 1991, Suzanne Capper (16) was found wandering on a quiet laneway south of Manchester. She was half naked, and her body had been burned badly. She was brought to hospital, but died 4 days later of her injuries.
It quickly emerged that she had been held in a house, tied up and tortured for nearly a week before her death. These horrific acts were committed by people she had considered friends. She was able to name them before she died, and they were held responsible for their crimes.
But Suzanne is far from the only young girl who has suffered torture at the hands of a group of people that she knew.
Continue reading “38 – Tortured Teens: The horrific murders of Suzanne Capper & Sylvia Likens”In 2002, two ten year old girls – Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman – went missing in the quiet and idyllic English town of Soham. It quickly became apparent that the girls had not simply wandered off. What followed was two week search for them, and the revelation that a terrible crime had taken place.
The shocking truth was that the girls had been murdered by a member of their community, someone they knew. And someone they trusted.
Continue reading “36 – Holly & Jessica: The Soham Murders”On Friday the 22nd September 2012, Jill Meagher left work after a long week and went out for a night on the town in her adopted home of Melbourne, Australia. She spent the evening in a number of bars and pubs with work friends.
But that night, there was a predator out on the streets too. One who had spent nearly a decade in prison for violent assaults and rape, and was still on parole and bail. Because of him, Jill would never make it home that night.
Continue reading “35 – The murder of Jill Meagher & serial sex crimes of Adrian Bayley”In October 1971, on a rural lane south of the village of Ratoath, Co Meath, Una Lynsky disappeared while walking a short distance from a bus stop to her home. Around that time, screams were heard and a strange car was seen driving up and down the lane. But three local lads, Dick Donnelly, Martin Kerrigan, and Martin Conmey found that they were the ones who had drawn the attention of the notorious Murder Squad of the Garda Siochana.
By the end of the year, two young people from Porterstown Lane would be dead. Two trials would follow and a series of appeals to try and clear a man’s name of guilt that did not belong to him.
Continue reading “34 – The murder of Una Lynsky, Wrongful Convictions & fight for Justice”On the afternoon of the 6th January, 2005 Robert Holohan rode his brand new silver BMX bike down his drive and out onto the roads of Ballyedmond, a townland north of Midleton in rural East Cork.
When Robert didn’t return home that evening, and had not answered his new phone, a search began that would bring people from all over the country to the area to volunteer to look for the 11 year old, alongside the Gardai and the army. But, just over a week later, Roberts body was found in a deep ditch, caught up in brambles, alongside Inch Strand. He was 12 miles from his home.
The Garda investigation worked quickly, and it soon became apparent that Robert had not gotten far from home, before he was killed.
Continue reading “33 – The murder of Robert Holohan: Broken Trust”Veronica Guerin took on Ireland’s booming gangland criminals in 1994, who were flooding the country with cannabis and other illegal substances and engaging in an all out war with their competitors. When she approached John Gilligan, the man in charge, at his home, she set in motion a series of events that would lead to her death, and to the downfall of the criminal set she had set her eyes on.
The events of 1994 changed the landscape of organised crime in Ireland forever, as well how the authorities would attempt to curb their enjoyment of their assets. But would they be held responsible for Veronica’s death?
Continue reading “21 – Veronica Guerin: Gangland Murder of the Media (Part 2)”
Continue reading “21 – Veronica Guerin: Gangland Murder of the Media (Part 1)”
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Brendan O’Donnell was a troubled and clingy child. After the death of his mother, he displayed violent tendencies. Rather than making his way into the mental health services and getting treatment, he found himself in detention centres for delinquent children. He spiralled out of control and eventually rampaged across the peaceful countryside near Lough Derg, killing three people and holding another two at gun point.
Continue reading “8 – The True Crimes of Brendan O’Donnell: Murder in Muster”