Category: Vintage murder

128 – A Questionable Conviction: The deaths of Margaret and Martin Glynn

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Cold Case, Controversial Case, Irish Crime, Life Sentence, murder, murder for profit, Vintage murder, Wrongly Accused

On a chilly Sunday morning in December of 1980, Michael Kelly arrived at a neighbours house in a panic. There was a fire in the house he was staying in nearby, and inside were the two elderly siblings who he was there to look after.

Sadly, Margaret and Martin Glynn – siblings in their 80s – were removed from the house and pronounced dead.

But was this a tragic accident, or a malicious act driven by greed?

This episode was researched and written by Aileen Spearin.

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120 – Dear Diary: The murder of Alison Shaughnessy

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn affair, Cold Case, Controversial Case, Domestic Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, Irish Crime, Life Sentence, love triangle, murder, UK Crime, unsolved, Vintage murder, Women Who Kill, Wrongly Accused

In June of 1991, 21 year old newly-wed Alison Shaughnessy was found lying in a pool of blood at the entrance to her flat in London by her husband John. After a stalled police investigation, two women were arrested and tried for Alison’s murder.

But is it possible that what was presented to the court as motive for her murder, gleaned from a 21 year old woman’s diary, had pointed police in the wrong direction?

Who killed Alison Shaughnessy?

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112 – A Terrible Thing: The murder of Marie Buckley

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Child Victim, Irish Crime, Life Sentence, murder, sex crimes, Vintage murder

On 9 November 1970, in the little village of Clonroche, Co Wexford, a young girl went missing. Just a few hours later her body was found dumped in a field not far from her home, and the main street of town.

The only certain thing at the outset of the investigation into 9 year old Marie Buckley’s murder was that this terrible thing had been done by someone local. 

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99 – Loose Threads: The murder of Deborah Robinson

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Cold Case, Irish Crime, Life Sentence, murder, Povocation, sex crimes, Vintage murder

In 1980, 19 year old Deborah Robinson took a bus from her home in Belfast down to Dublin for the day. She never returned. Her body was found in ditch in rural Co. Kildare, and launched a huge murder investigation. It looked like the case might go cold after a year went by with no breaks in the case.

But some loose threads lead investigators to a new suspect.

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72 – The Missing Postman: Larry Griffin

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Cold Case, Controversial Case, Irish Crime, Kidnapping, murder, unsolved, Vintage murder, Wrongly Accused

On Christmas Day, 1929, postman Larry Griffen went to work in the small village of Stradbally, Co Waterford. As he called into homes with the post, he was thanked with tips and a few drinks. That night, Larry never made it home. His bike was found abandoned in the middle of the road.

A conspiracy of silence kept the truth of what happened to Larry Griffin from his family, and still does to this day.

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70 – Lives of Violence: Robert Mone

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Controversial Case, Human Rights, Insanity Defence, Kidnapping, Landmark Case, Life Sentence, Mental Health, murder, Public Inquiry, Scottish Crimes, Serial Killer, UK Crime, Vintage murder

In 1967, a teacher was shot in her classroom in Dundee.

In 1976, two men escaped a mental hospital and killed three others in the process.

In 1979, three women were found beaten and strangled in a flat in Dundee.

All of these horrific events had one thing in common.

The name Robert Mone.

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69 – The Emergency: The IRA, spies & the murder of Micheal Devereux

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Capital Punishment, Controversial Case, Human Rights, IRA/Paramilitary links, Irish Crime, Kidnapping, Landmark Case, Life Sentence, murder, Organised Crime, terrorism, Vintage murder

In 1940, 24 year old Michael Devereux disappeared from his home in Co Wexford. A year later, his body would be discovered buried in an isolated part of Co Tipperary. A number of men who were known members of the IRA found themselves accused of the murder – allegedly motivated by the belief that Devereux had been a spy among their ranks.

A four month legal battle ensued, which saw the use of the Emergency Powers Act passed to deal with “The Emergency” of the ongoing war in Europe used to circumvent due process and normal court procedures in order to hold the men accountable.

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67 – Honor Bright: Murder in the Free State

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn affair, Capital Punishment, Controversial Case, Domestic Violence, Human Rights, Intimate Partner Violence, Irish Crime, Life Sentence, love triangle, murder, sex crimes, unsolved, Vintage murder, Wrongly Accused

In 1925, while the Irish Free State was still in its infancy after the close of the civil war, the body of a young woman was found dead lying at a lonely cross roads in South County Dublin. Her name was Honor Bright, a woman who made her living as a sex worker in town.

Two men were tried for her shooting death, but was her killing a the result of her “unfortunate” status, or part of an attempt to keep scandal away from the halls of power in a newly-independent Ireland?

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51 – Rampage: The murders of Elizabeth Plunkett & Mary Duffy

On By mensreapod@gmail.comIn Controversial Case, Human Rights, Irish Crime, Kidnapping, Landmark Case, murder, sadism, Serial Killer, sex crimes, torture, Vintage murder

In 1976, there was a crime spree in Ireland. Houses and caravans were burgled, cars were stolen, and then two women went missing. Elizabeth Plunkett disappeared in Brittas Bay in Wicklow, and a month later, across the country, Mary Duffy went missing without a trace.

The gardai discovered that all these crimes were related, and had been committed by two men who had only arrived into the country a year before from England, where they were wanted in relation to a number of sexual assaults. 

John Shaw and Geoffrey Evans would go on to be some of the longest serving prisoners in Ireland. 

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