True Crime – True Crime Ireland

The Vanishing Triangle

The Vanishing Triangle

In the mid to late 1990s, several disappearances of women occurred in the eastern part of Ireland. All women were young and disappeared suddenly without much clues to enable investigators to discern their fate. Large scale searches and campaigns by the Gardaí were to no avail. A popular hypothesis is that a serial killer, or killers, may have been operating in this area at the time.

The unofficial list names six missing women, however it is debated that this list should contain a lot more. The disappearances occurred within a wide, sort of triangular area, giving to the mysterious name ‘The Vanishing Triangle’.

The Missing Six

Annie McCarrick

Annie McCarrick was a shy and trusting 26 year old brunette student from Long Island, New York, who had been living in Sandymount, Co. Dublin, for some time. Annie had come to Ireland in 1990 to study literature at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. She had worked part-time in a restaurant and shared a flat with two Irish women.

Annie had invited her friend Hilary Brady and his girlfriend Rite Fortune to dinner on 26^th March 1993, however when they arrived Annie was not there. Shortly after, they contacted her parents John and Nancy McCarrick in New York and they reported her missing.

Earlier on the 26^th, Annie’s flatmates had asked her what her plans for the weekend were and Annie said she was planning on going for a walk in Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow. Annie called a friend to see if she would like to join her on the walk, but the friend was unavailable. She continued with her plan and the last confirmed sighting of Annie was on the number 44 bus she had boarded at 3.30pm where a co-worker spotted her going to the upstairs section of the bus.

Later on, there was an unconfirmed sighting of Annie in Glencullen, Dublin, where a doorman of Johnny Fox’s pub stated that Annie was there accompanied by an unknown man in both the lounge and the cabaret room of the pub where the man had paid entrance fee into.

The McCarricks arrived in Ireland shortly after Annie was reported missing and stayed for 6 months searching unsuccessfully for their daughter.

Josephine ‘Jo Jo’ Dollard

Josephine Dollard, known as JoJo to her friends and family, was a blue eyed, black haired, 21-year-old beautician from Cuffsgrange, Co. Kilkenny. On 09th November 1995, JoJo was making her way home from Dublin to Callan, Kilkenny. JoJo had travelled to Dublin to sign off from the dole, Ireland’s unemployed benefit scheme, as she had got a job in Graingers’ restaurant in her home town, after previously leaving her beauticians job some time earlier, and was due to start work the next morning.

After missing the direct bus home from Dublin, she took a commuter bus to Naas and began hitching her way home from there. She had been driven to Kilcullen and from there to Moone. She was last seen making a phone call to her friend, Mary Cullinane, at 11.37pm from a telephone box in the village of Moone, Co. Kildare. She rang her friend to let her know she was having difficulty getting a lift and whilst on that call a car pulled up. A short time later, a woman similar to JoJo’s description was seen leaning in the back door of a dark coloured Toyota Carina type car. The occupants of this car have never been traced.

There was also an unconfirmed sighting of JoJo walking along a road in Castledermot, Co Kildare. Gardai tried to trace a man in his 20s who was seen buying chips near this time in a diner. It believed that she was abducted between 11.50pm and 12.05am. Gardai urged farmers in the area to search their land.

In 1996, JoJo’s sister Mary Phelan and her Husband Martin hired their own private investigator. The investigator pretended to be a tourist looking for directions to gain access to the farmland of a man they believe killed JoJo. He met a man who had a scar on his face which hadn’t healed well due to lack of medical attention. The investigator added that he was after solving 13 murders but ‘Jojo’s I’ll never solve.. I’ll have to bring that one to my grave with me’. Two female Gardai who were sent to Mary’s house to visit them did not even have it in their files that the chief suspect had a scar. JoJo’s family claim the killer is related to a politician and that this influence has protected him as the Gardai ‘know who it is, but they’re not going to do anything about it now’ and that a senior officer told them that ‘the investigation will go nowhere’.

Shortly after her disappearance, a woman wrote a letter to the family stating that she was an ex-girlfriend of the suspected killer and that he has abused her during their relationship. Her sister Mary brought the letter straight to Baltinglass Garda station which she later regretted as she later stated that ‘I know now they were never going to act on that letter’. She unfortunately did not get a photocopy of the letter before handing it over. JoJo’s sister Mary said that the investigation was a ‘complete mess’. There is also claims that there was a smear campaign ran to destroy her character which resulted in the public and some politicians defending her honour.

Ciara Breen

Ciara Breen was an 18 year old from Dundalk, Co. Louth.

On 13^th February 1997, Ciara and her mother, Bernadette, had gone to bed just after midnight. At 2am, Bernadette had got up to use the bathroom and realised that Ciara was no longer in her bed. The bedroom window was left on the latch, leading the belief that Ciara had snuck out of the house through the front door for a pre-arranged meeting, leaving the window open so she could climb back in later. Ciara did not bring any money or clothes with her.

In 2014, two witnesses came forward with sightings of Ciara from the night she disappeared leading to an arrest of a man in his 50s in 2015, but he was not charged with a crime. This arrest led to the search of an area called Balmer’s Bog in August and September of 2015, but no traces of Ciara could be found. The search was then called off with nothing found except old bomb components. This suspect had been previously arrested in 1999 over Ciara’s disappearance as witness claimed that Ciara had snuck out of the house to meet him, but he maintained his innocence up until his death in 2017.

Fiona Pender

Fiona Pender from Tullamore, Co. Offaly was a 25 year old hairdresser and part-time model who went missing on 23^rd August 1996. Fiona was seven months pregnant at the time of her disappearance and was last seen leaving her apartment by her Boyfriend John Thompson.

On the border between counties Laois and Offaly is the Slieve Bloom Way which is a long-distance trail circling the Slieve Bloom Mountains. In 2008, a small wooden cross was discovered bearing Fiona’s name, leading to the belief that Fina was buried in the mountains.

A man known to the Pender family has been the chief suspect in Fiona’s disappearance, but Gardai have arrested several people and searched different areas of lands. In the last few years, a woman living outside of Ireland has told Gardai that while in a rage her husband had threatened her and implied that he had killed Fiona and would kill her also. The woman described an area where she believed Fiona’s body was buried however the information came to nothing and no conviction was brought against her husband.

Although still technically a missing person, Fiona is presumed murdered and if this was under less devastating circumstances, Fiona’s unborn child would be now in his or her 20’s. A sad reminder that is case involves the disappearances of two people, not just one.

Fiona Sinnott

Fiona Sinnott from Rosslare, Co. Wexford was a 19 year old mother of one who went missing on 8^th February 1998.

Fiona was last seen leaving a local pub with her ex-boyfriend Sean Carroll in Broadway, Co. Wexford where she had been living. Carroll told those investigating her disappearance that he had walked Fiona back to her house and spent the night sleeping on the couch. The next morning Fiona, who has been complaining of pains in her upper body previously, said that she intended on hitching a lift to her physician later that day about the pains. After finding out she had no money, Carroll gave her £3 and left her house to his mother waiting outside in a car for him to go home. Fiona and Sean Carroll’s daughter Emma had been staying in the Carroll’s at that time.

Fiona never attended her physician’s office that day or any other doctors in fact and no witnesses came forward to prove that she had even attempted to hitch a lift. Fiona’s house had not much personal belongings and the house did not look like that of a teenager’s and child’s house. A farmer came forward to Gardai stating that he had found a number of black sacks containing personal items from Fiona, including documents with her name on them. But the farmer had destroyed the bags as he was under the impression that they were being illegally dumped, a major issue faced in Ireland still to this day. It was speculated that someone may have tried to stage the house as if Fiona had run away. Some speculated that Fiona had run away to England after a brief relationship with an English lorry driver however he was tracked down and Fiona was not in his company and was then ruled out as a suspect. Those who knew Fiona knew the likelihood of her running away was small because her daughter Emma was the centre of her universe and she would not have left her.

Deirdre Jacob

Deirdre Jacob from Newbridge, Co. Kildare was an 18 year old who was studying at St. Mary’s University and living in Twickenham, London. Deirdre had been home for the summer after completing her first year as a student teacher and on 28^th July 1998 disappeared just yards from her parents’ home. She was last sighted walking within yards of her parent’s driveway but never made it to the house. Deirdre had been visiting her grandmother and running errands before walking home.

An Irish prisoner alleged that convicted Irish rapist, Larry Murphy, had confessed to him about abducting Deirdre and last year, roughly seven years after the first allegation, Gardai interviewed the prisoner again for more information.

Deirdre’s disappearance has been upgraded to a murder enquiry because of new not yet released information, with several persons of interest alongside Murphy, however no convictions have been made as of yet.

A longer list than six?

Eva Brennan

Eva Brennan from Rathgar, Co. Dublin was 39 when she disappeared on 25^th July 1993. Eva was last seen in her parent’s house where she attended a family lunch. Two days after this lunch Eva’s father went to her apartment as they had not seen her since the lunch. Ava’s family were possibly worried due to the fact that Ava had been depressed prior. After ringing the doorbell and getting no answer Eva’s father went to the pub the family owned, The Horse and Hound, and asked a barman to come with him. They went back to Eva’s house and together broke a window to get in. There was no sign of Ava however the jacket she had been wearing on the day of the family lunch was there, indicating that she had returned to her apartment since the lunch.

Gardai have been criticised on their handling of Eva’s disappearance as no investigation was initiated until around three months after the disappearance.

Imelda Keenan

Imelda Keenan from Mountmellick, Co. Laois was a 22 year old student who went missing on 3^rd January 1994. Imelda was living with her boyfriend Mark Wall in Waterford City and on the day which she disappeared had told Wall that she was going to go to the post office. She left the apartment at 1.30 pm and was last seen by a doctor’s secretary while crossing the road near the Tower Hotel.

Theories

Since Fiona Sinnott’s disappearance in 1998, no other cases have been classed as of such an unexplained nature to be warranted addition to the list.

A main theory and briefly mentioned above is the involvement of convicted serial rapist Larry Murphy who was also convicted of attempted murder of his victims. Murphy who is from an area within the ‘triangle’ was convicted and imprisoned in 2001 for the rape and attempted murder of a woman in 2000. Murphy was attempting to strangle the woman in the Wicklow mountains but was foiled by two hunters who came upon the scene and saved the woman.

Although there is no actual evidence linking Murphy to the disappearances and he has maintained his innocence, Murphy is a suspect in the disappearances of Annie McCarrick, Jo Jo Dollard and Deirdre Jacob.

Operation Trace

Operation Trace is an initiative, set up in 1998, focused on solving unsolved disappearances including those mentioned above and has even offered a €10,000 reward for information which results in a discovery of a body. It is unfortunate that monetary value has to be put on information pertaining to a case, however if a reward entices someone to give valuable information of which they would have previously kept secret and a family gets answers and closure, who am I to question it. Operation trace drafted in two FBI agents to assist in the operation and together with the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations (NBCI) they examined the files on the missing women. The agents specialised in profiling serial killers and rapists.

Despite an extensive investigation by the Gardai, Operation Trace, the public and family, these women or their abductors have never been truly identified. Although we may never know what happened to them, someone out there does.

Marie Tierney

Marie Tierney was a 34-year-old loving mother of two who, alongside her husband, ran a local retail petrol station in the small town of Conahy. On October 21^st 1982, Marie left her home and disappeared into the night. It wasn’t until two months later, in the run up to Christmas, that what happened her that night emerged.

Capture 2

On the night of October 21^st1982, Marie told her husband Jim that she was going out to enjoy herself and left the home she shared with her Jim and their two children, aged 13 and 12, at Clinstown, Jenkinstown at approximately 10.30pm. When she did not return, her husband reported her missing the next day.

Marie’s car, a Renault 18 with the registration number 35-HIP, was located at Newpark Fen the same day she was reported missing. Numerous searches were conducted by members of Marie’s family, friends and the local Gardai, however she could not be located. Witness statements put the car in Newpark at approximately 11pm the night of her disappearance.

Marie Tierney. Source: Garda Press Office

Two months later, on December 21^st, a man taking a walk along Bleach Road, on the outskirts of Kilkenny, was trying to gain access to a field to help an injured swan when he came across what he initially thought was a mattress. Upon closer inspection in the dense undergrowth, he discovered the body of Marie Tierney and raised the alarm.

Dr. Jon Harbison, the state pathologist at the time, concluded that Marie had been violently strangled.

The local Gardai called in the homicide squad from Dublin City to ensure an adequate investigation could ensue and an incident room was set up at Kilkenny Garda station. The Gardai determined that Marie has been killed elsewhere, possibly in a house, most likely on the day she was last seen. Her remains were then transported by a vehicle to the spot where she was later found. This was corroborated by the pathologist’s conclusion that her body had laid there for the two months.

No definite leads came from the investigation, no arrests were made and the case went cold for over 30 years.

In 2017, Kilkenny Gardai re-opened the case. People who were familiar with Marie were re-interviewed and because so much time had past some felt more able to offer information on her life around the time she was murdered. New witnesses have come forward since the re-opening of the case and a suspect has been identified. The Gardai believe that statements from witnesses may be strong circumstantial evidence in the event that a suspect be charged and tried.

Marie’s remains were exhumed at dawn on Wednesday morning of October 31^st this year and her body taken to Waterford University Hospital for examination in hopes that advanced scientific developments will allow investigators to gather crucial evidence to enable the prosecution of Marie’s killer.

John Bourke said, that although it was a necessary part of the investigation it was a tough day for the family. They could only hope that it would bring a conclusion, as justice, for Marie.

To note: It is a complex application process to exhume a body in Ireland and is only allowed in the rarest of circumstances. The Gardai have to apply to the Kilkenny County Council for a licence and a Ministerial Order is required from the Department of Justice. The exhumation must be carried out with ‘due care and decency, and in such a manner as not to endanger public health’. An environmental protection officer must be present for the exhumation, alongside others such as a forensic anthropologist, state pathologist, Gardai and a forensic scientist. A special coffin lined with zinc, known as a ‘shell’, is used to transport the remains. The exhumed body must be reburied or cremated within 48 hours.

The team working on the case believe that a series of tests, which were not available in the 80’s, can now be carried out on the body may offer DNA and other forensic evidence to link the killer to her case.

Following the exhumation, a fresh appeal for any members of the public who had seen anyone walking or cycling near Newpark Fenn or who has seen the Renault 18 on the night of Oct 21^st 1984 to come forward. Gardai are especially appealing for people who may not have yet made themselves known for any reason during the initial investigations to come forward.

To date, over 200 witness statements have been recorded and over 500 lines of enquiries been investigated. No arrests have been made.

Marie’s brother and sister, John Bourke and Breda Fay, have spoken of the family’s ongoing anguish that their sister’s killer has not yet been caught. They have pleaded publicly to the murdered to do the right thing and hand himself in.

marie-tierneys-sister-breda-fay-and-maries-brother-in-law-paddy-fay-752x501 — *Marie’s sister Breda Fay and brother-in-law Paddy Fay. Source: RTE Prime Time*

Fay spoke on a Prime Time episode on Irish TV channel RTE ‘To imagine your sister, that somebody would murder her. Take her life and then, that her body was dumped in a ditch’. Marie’s Niece Deborah also told Prime Time ‘To be put in a ditch in the thick of winter. She loved her nails and appearance and always maintained herself really well. It was horrific, a horrific ending’. The Prime Time TV show also filmed the Gardai as they re-opened the case in 2017.

Liam Connolly, the Inspector heading the investigation, continues to liaise with the Tierney and Bourke families and Chief Superintendent Dominic Hayes stated ‘It is incumbent on us that we put a huge effort into solving this murder for Marie’s family. I have no doubt that we will have a successful outcome’.

No results have been reported as of yet but no doubt all fingers are crossed for what information may be gleamed from the new forensic testing. With 2018 being a phenomenal year for forensics and DNA, the Golden State Killer’s capture comes to mind, lets hope that this good run of breakthroughs continues and finds its way to all our local cases, including Marie’s.

Jo Jo Dollard

JoJo Dollard – The girl in the phone box

JoJoDollard_large

Josephine Dollard, known as JoJo to her friends and family, was a 5’5, blue eyed, black haired, 21-year-old beautician from Cuffsgrange, Co. Kilkenny. She was the youngest of five children and lost her parents at a very young age, her dad passed away before she was born and her mother when she was 12 years old. JoJo’s sister Kathleen Bergin described JoJo as a tomboy when she was growing up and although having a hard life, JoJo was a lovely polite person.

On 09^th November 1995, JoJo was making her way home from Dublin to Callan, Kilkenny. JoJo had travelled to Dublin to sign off from the dole, Ireland’s unemployed benefit scheme, as she had got a job in Graingers’ restaurant in her home town, after previously leaving her beauticians job some time earlier, and was due to start work the next morning.

After missing the direct bus home from Dublin, she took a commuter bus to Naas and began hitching her way home from there. She had been driven to Kilcullen and from there to Moone.

She was last seen making a phone call to her friend, Mary Cullinane, at 11.37pm from a telephone box in the village of Moone, Co. Kildare. She rang her friend to let her know she was having difficulty getting a lift and whilst on that call a car pulled up. A short time later, a woman similar to JoJo’s description was seen leaning in the back door of a dark coloured Toyota Carina type car. The occupants of this car have never been traced.

There was also an unconfirmed sighting of JoJo walking along a road in Castledermot, Co Kildare. Gardai tried to trace a man in his 20s who was seen buying chips near this time in a diner.

It believed that she was abducted between 11.50pm and 12.05am. Gardai urged farmers in the area to search their land.

JoJo Dollard memorial Moone 15 08 2003 RollingNews — At the phone booth in Moone, Co. Kildare

Two female Gardai who were sent to Mary’s house to visit them did not even have it in their files that the chief suspect had a scar. JoJo’s family claim the killer is related to a politician and that this influence has protected him as the Gardai ‘know who it is, but they’re not going to do anything about it now’ and that a senior officer told them that ‘the investigation will go nowhere’.

Kathleen has campaigned tirelessly for JoJo’s whereabouts and herself and her family worked to get a national monument erected in the grounds of Kilkenny Castle in remembrance of all the missing people. Kathleen stated that the family ‘cling on to hope for JoJo. We want her to be found before all of us pass away’. Unfortunately, Mary died on the morning of 20^th April this year, 2018, after being diagnosed with cancer 17 weeks previous.

Despite an extensive investigation by both the Gardai and her family, JoJo has never been found. Although we may never know what happened to JoJo, someone out there does.

Anyone with information should contact the Gardai at 1-800-666-111.

Missing-JoJo-Dollard jo-jo

*Please note, in many sources the surname Dollard and Dullard have been used interchangeably.

Jastine Valdez

Jastine-Valdez_-945x510

Jastine Valdez moved to Ireland from the Philippines three years ago to join her parents Danilo and Teresita Valdez who had come here in the 1990s for work. She studied accounting and finance at Tallaght Institute of Technology in Dublin and worked part-time as a carer and waitress. The family lived in a cottage on the grounds of Charleville House where Danilo is a greensman and Teresita is the housekeeper. Charleville House is situated on the R760, one of the main roads leading into Enniskerry, Co. Wicklow.

On Saturday morning of May 19^th, 2018, 24-year-old Jastine set off from her home to travel to Bray. At 5.40pm, Jastine boarded the 185 bus and set off home from Bray town. Shortly before 6.15pm, close to the entrance to the Powerscourt Estate, Jastine got off the bus to start her walk home.

A woman who was driving by saw a man forcibly bundle Jastine into the boot of a Nissan SUV. At 6.24pm she dialled 999. A second witness saw a distressed woman in the back the SUV and when he returned home around 7.20pm called the Gardaí. Later another witness came forward stating that at 6.50pm he saw the SUV driving erratically around six kilometres from Enniskerry. Three patrol cars and a helicopter were dispatched. By 3am that night, the Gardaí had identified a man called Mark Hennessy as their prime suspect.

On the Saturday of Jastine’s murder, Hennessy joined a group to watch the first half of the FA Cup Final in the Ramblers Rest pub in Ballybrack. He was reported as acting normal and didn’t seem drunk, with one of the patrons stating that he didn’t even buy a drink. At 5.43pm he drove from the parking lot and within half an hour he was driving behind the 185 bus that was carrying Jastine Valdez. It is reported that after the murder, Hennessy returned to a pub to drink for the evening.

At 8pm Sunday evening the Gardaí found Hennessy who was sitting in his car in Cherrywood Business Park. Out of concern for the suspects actions, the Gardaí fired a shot at Hennessy but the bullet however, ricocheted off his shoulder fatally wounding him. Shortly before the shots were fired, Hennessy rang his wife from a ‘burner phone’ to say that he had done something terrible. Inside the car they found Hennessy covered in blood from self-inflicted injuries and a note which had the words ‘sorry’ and ‘Puck’s Lane’ written on it. Puck’s lane was the road on which Hennessy was seen driving erratically around 6.50pm Saturday evening. This note led to the discovery of Jastine’s body at Puck’s Castle in Rathmichael, Dublin.

Mark Hennessy came from a large, respected family and was married with two young daughters. Friends of Hennessy described him as a happy-go-lucky guy who never caused trouble and would never complain about anything. Hennessy however did have convictions for public order and drug offences and was facing an upcoming drink-driving charge. No evidence was found to imply that he knew Jastine, but Gardaí did not rule out the possibility that he had stalked her or had seen her before. Hennessy’s DNA was run through a database to search for possible matches taken from other crime scenes.

Unfortunately, these sad and harrowing events have left many victims. Jastine, who will never reach her full potential, Jastine’s family who will never see their loved and cherished daughter grow up, and Hennessy’s wife and children who have had their world turned around and lost a husband and father.

While we may never know what compelled Mark Hennessy to commit this crime, we must remember that we do not know what is going on in someone’s mind or behind closed doors. We must remain vigilant that someone’s behaviour change may be a subconscious cry for help and that this person may need support or help before they endanger themselves or someone else.

The Face of Evil

Did you ever read a book that aggravated you so much you had to stop yourself from swearing out loud on public transport? If not, then you need to read this book. The aggravating factor was not the book of course but the subject matter. A vile, despicable specimen of a human being called Robert Black.

Robert Black may be best known for his convictions of kidnapping, sexual assault and murder of four innocent young children between 1981 and 1986 but ‘The face of Evil’ delves into the deplorable lifestyle and urges that this man acted out on and the possibility, if not likelihood, that there were more than just the four known victims. There are women, who are lucky to have gotten away, who can attest to that.

Robert Black’s life consisted of travelling around parts of Britain for work which gave him ample opportunity to seek out innocent victims and private areas to take them to. The use of different vans and the fact that he was not local to these areas gave him a disguise that enabled him to act out his fantasies undetected for years.

The bodies of his victims showed how unmerciful his sexual fantasies were and how sadistic and unrepentant this killer was. The youngest of his known victims was just 5 years old when she was kidnapped and murdered by Black with the eldest being 11. But for such a sadistic killer, surely his killing spree did not end after 5 years of a murder spree, nor could it have only started the five years previous. In ‘The face of Evil’ Black’s life is broken down and his whereabouts laid out for the readers to digest and conclude that Black had the means to have been engaging his fantasies for a much longer period of time.

I went into this book with not much knowledge at all of Robert Black and the crimes he was either convicted or suspected of. The authors laid out all the facts, sometimes even repeating them to iterate the sheer audacity of his actions, and interestingly provided a comprehensive timeline review including their own take on cases he could have been involved with. I was very impressed at the addition of survivor’s accounts who truly believe that Black was their would-be abductor and grateful that the research into these crimes has helped others come forward. You can sense the author’s knowledge and passion while still being a readable book for those who don’t have experience in this area.

It is easy to see that the authors Robert Giles and Chris Clark have extensive knowledge and experience in not only this subject but in crime in general, being from a criminology background and a former police intelligence officer respectively, and I look forward to catching up on their other titles!

The Face of Evil