On 28th February 2006, Siobhan McLoughlin was found dead in locked bedroom. At first glance, it looked as if she had tragically taken her own life. But within hours after her death, police and the McLoughlin family felt sure that she had been brutally murdered.
But would the State be able to prove guilt, beyond a reasonable doubt?
Continue reading “90 – Beyond Reasonable Doubt: The murder of Siobhan McLoughlin”In April of 1986, three armed men burst into a lavish home in Howth. When they left, they brought with them Jennifer Guinness, mother of three and wife of the head of a merchant bank. A ransom was demanded for her return.
Despite the quick mobilisation of gardai all over Dublin, Jennifer’s captor would evade capture for over a week.
Continue reading “89 – The Ordeal: Jennifer Guinness”Raoul Moat was released from a short stint in prison in 2010. In the days that followed he shot three people, including a Northumberland police officer and went on the run in the quiet town of Rothbury.
Police scoured the countryside for this man with murderous intent, a search that ended on the bank of the river Croquet in a six hour stand-off.
Continue reading “86 – Vengeance: the hunt for Raoul Moat”In May of 1996, a woman’s body was found behind a skip in Glasnevin, Dublin city. Late on the 27th, Patricia Murphy had been reported missing from her nearby home.In order for her family to find justice, however, three of her young children would have to give evidence in court to put the perpetrator away – the monster in the garage.
This episode was researched and written by Eileen MacFarlene of the Crimelapse podcast.
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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:
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/battered-wife-tried-to-conceal-the-marks-of-her-beatings-1.228260
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/dismay-as-mother-of-four-is-murdered-1.53517
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/post-mortem-results-expected-today-on-murdered-mother-1.53444
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/gardai-in-search-for-murdered-woman-s-clothing-1.53824
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/over-100-pay-respects-to-murdered-woman-1.54177
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/search-continues-for-victim-s-clothing-1.54503
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/steady-progress-in-murder-inquiry-1.54943
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/man-held-on-murphy-death-is-released-1.56185
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/suspects-s-re-arrest-legal-in-murder-hunt-judge-rules-1.82796
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/inquest-on-murdered-woman-is-adjourned-1.60981
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/husband-charged-with-murdering-mother-of-four-1.63472
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/man-on-wife-murder-charge-seeks-bail-1.63872
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/man-gets-bail-in-wife-murder-case-1.64697
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/life-policy-pay-out-to-accused-man-1.65092
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/wife-murder-trial-is-delayed-1.87746
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/further-remand-in-murder-case-1.105459
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/man-pleads-not-guilty-to-wife-murder-1.220470
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/delayed-murder-trial-to-open-1.221299
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/accused-man-s-children-to-tell-of-seeing-mother-s-body-1.221769
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/boy-5-tells-of-daddy-hammering-mammy-1.222333
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/children-tell-how-they-saw-mother-dead-in-garage-1.222264
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/neighbour-heard-high-pitched-screaming-1.223141
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/murder-trial-adjourned-for-discussions-1.223553
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/dead-woman-s-mother-tells-of-phone-calls-1.223955
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/murphy-said-gardai-were-not-clever-enough-to-catch-him-out-1.225874
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/child-told-neighbour-mammy-was-asleep-1.226272
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https://www.irishtimes.com/news/murder-accused-repeatedly-denies-having-killed-his-wife-1.227126
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In May of 1994, Philomena Gillane was 7 months pregnant. On the morning of Wednesday the 11th, she left her home early to head to work. But she never arrived. She was found dead in the boot of her own car 25 miles away, at Athlone Train station.
Her family would spend the next 3 years in and out of courts dealing with the fallout from her brutal murder, and in a search for justice that was never fully achieved.
Continue reading “84 – Dark Saga: The Murder of Philomena Gillane”On Thursday the 26th of October 1986, Philip Cairns left his Ballyroan Road home after eating his lunch. He was headed back to school. But he never made it there. An intensive search followed, but there were no signs of the 13 year old.
A week later, his school bag was found in a nearby laneway, left there by persons unknown. Despite searches of the Rathfarnham area, including rivers, overgrown areas, large parklands and in the foothills of the Dublin mountains, there was no further sign of the school boy.
What became of Philip Cairns?
Continue reading “83 – The Disappearance of Philip Cairns”On Saturday, September 9th 2017, a group of women were celebrating a 25th birthday in a house in Rhyl, Wales. Tyler Denton was hosting the party for her new girlfriend Hayley Barnett. It was supposed to be a girls night but Tylers room mate Redvers James Bickley had crashed the party.
None of the young women could have predicted that by the end of the night one of them would be dead, and 3 others would be seriously injured.
Continue reading “82 – Frenzied: Redvers Bickley”In October of 2012, 30 year old Aoife Phelan went missing without a trace. Aoife had simply left a friends house and vanished with no sign of what might become of her. A garda investigation began to find the woman who had told hr family she was 4 months pregnant.
It would be a long two weeks before police discovered what had become of her.
Continue reading “81 – A Voyage of Fiction: The murder of Aoife Phelan”In February of 1996, 16 year old James Healy was found brutally beaten in a field near his home in Tralee. It wouldn’t be long before gardai zeroed in on their prime suspect – a 25 year old man diagnosed with anti social personality disorder.
In fact, police feared that he would one day murder.
Continue reading “79 – Savage: The murder of James Healy”Just before Christmas 1994, Patch O’Driscoll went missing from his bedsit in Cork City. When the garda investigation began into his missing persons case, it was discovered two other men had also disappeared from the very same house on Wellington Terrace. Though there was no evidence of a crime scene inside the large dilapidated building, the cause was certainly within.
But there would be few answers and no justice in the case.
Continue reading “76 – House of Horrors: Cork’s missing men”