Episodes
Kitty Carroll was killed by Michael Murphy in Drogheda in 1983 - he would go on to kill again.  This episode was originally posted to Patreon as a bonus episode in March 2022. Hang in there while I continue to try to get back on track with my work schedule. ************ Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out the Mens Rea Merch Store!  *********** Music: Kevin McLeod, Quinns Song : The Dance...
Published 05/07/24
Published 05/07/24
In March of 2011, 19 year old David Byrne set out to meet someone near to his home in Drimnagh, Dublin City. Little did he know that he was walking into a trap. A panicked chase was caught on CCTV, but the final attack occurred in a dark corner out of sight of any cameras. Could his killer be identified from the footage? This episode was researched and written by Aileen Spearin. ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to...
Published 02/29/24
In August 2000, 21 year old Julie Tennant went missing from her home in Ballymena. Her parents searched desperately for her, while RUC officers began a search for her. They eventually identified a man she had last been seen with - but when he heard police were searching his home he went on the run. This episode was researched and written by Aileen Spearin. ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free...
Published 01/24/24
One of television's most popular true-crime series is now adapted for your ears with the “48 Hours” podcast. Every week, award-winning CBS News correspondents investigate the most intriguing crime and justice cases. Here’s a preview of a new “48 Hours” episode, “The Night of the Idaho Student Murders”. "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant sits down with family members of Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle, two of the four University of Idaho students shockingly murdered the night of...
Published 10/16/23
Just after 10am, on Wednesday the 29th July 2008, shots rang out on a busy residential road in Kilrush, Co Clare. Two men who lived on the street, Leslie Kenny and Brendan O'Sullivan, had exchanged words, and by the end of that interaction, one of them was lying dead in a front garden. This episode was researched and written by Aileen Spearin. ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out...
Published 09/19/23
If you have any information on the whereabouts of John Griffin, you can contact Gort Garda Station on (091) 636400, the Garda Confidential line at 1800 666 111 or your local law enforcement agency. In 2005, a caravan caught fire in rural north Clare, Emer O'Loughlin's family were initially relieved to see that it wasn't the one she shared with her partner Shane. But when human remains were found inside the charred wreckage, and there was still no sign of the artistic Emer, hope that...
Published 09/12/23
28 year old mother of one Norma Crotty appeared on her neighbours doorstep early on the morning of January 3rd, 1995. She was in a distressed state, and was holding a shotgun. It was smoking. Norma told her neighbour that she had just shot her husband. This episode was researched and written by Aileen Spearin. ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out the Mens Rea Merch...
Published 08/28/23
In September of 2019, Paul Jones was found dead in the hallway of his home on Bandon Road, in Cork. The 54 year old had a chequered past, but for the last decade had lived a quiet and pious life, bothering no one. Despite this, he had suffered 25 stab wounds to his side and had been hit in the head with a long, machete-like blade. Though he had no known quarrels with anyone, there was someone in Paul Jones' life who had a reason to do him harm. This episode was researched and written by...
Published 08/22/23
In the early hours of 29th April, 2000, a fire was discovered in an upmarket flat in the seaside resort of Scheveningen, The Hague. Three occupants were found dead in the bathtub - young Irishmen Damien Monahan and Vincent and Morgan Costello. Was the fire an accident, some sort of gangland hit, or something else altogether? This episode was researched and written by Aileen Spearin. ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get...
Published 08/07/23
In the early hours of 29th November, 2002, 34 year old father of two arrived home from working his shift as the security manager at a popular nightclub in Limerick City. He was shot to death in his driveway in a suspected gangland killing. Would gardai be able to find enough evidence to bring members of one of Limerick's most notorious gangs before a court? This episode was researched and written by Aileen Spearin. ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters...
Published 07/24/23
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. ******** Find us on...
Published 07/10/23
In March of 1999, Phillip Colgan and his wife Mary walked into Rathfarnham Garda Station and with a story to tell. It would be his first of many., and it would be up to a jury to decide which was true - and who killed Layla Brennan. This episode was researched and written by Aileen Spearin. ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out the Mens Rea Merch Store! ********* Theme...
Published 07/03/23
In August of 2000, Gerry McGinley disappeared from his home near Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh. His wife Julie said he had packed up a plastic bag and had taken off. The police investigation came up with numerous leads. Had Gerry fallen foul of the Real IRA? Or maybe he'd crossed drug dealers? Was his former lover - or indeed her husband - enraged enough to make him run, or worse? It also seemed likely Gerry had been blackmailing local men with videos they'd rather not exist... Or perhaps the...
Published 06/22/23
In the early hours of 2nd February, 2007, a tragedy occurred on the main street of Arklow, Co Wicklow. A man had been struck by a car and lay dying in the road. It soon became clear, however, that this was no accident. But - was it murder? This episode was researched and written by Aileen Spearin. ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out the Mens Rea Merch...
Published 06/05/23
17 year old Siobhan Hynes went out with friends to the small village of an Cheathru Rua on the night of Sat 5th December 1998. She never made it home. Siobhan's body was found the following day, on the foreshore of a nearby beach. How could something like this happen in such a small, isolated community? This episode was researched and written by Aileen Spearin. ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free...
Published 05/22/23
In the summer of 2005, Celine Conroy decided to pack up her three kids to spend the summer in Spain alongside her partner Paul Hickey. But rather than a relaxing escape from her life back in Dublin, the holiday ended in horror. This episode was researched and written by Aileen Spearin. ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out the Mens Rea Merch Store! ********* Theme...
Published 05/01/23
On the night of the 11th Nov, 2003, Patricia Conroy frantically searched the small midlands town of Mountmellick for her 14 year old son Darragh. He wasn't answering the new mobile phone he'd just received and he hadn't come home when expected. Ms Conroy had no idea that hours earlier, Darragh had crossed paths with a schoolmate - 16 year old Darren Goodwin - and her son would not be coming home. This episode was researched and written by Aileen Spearin. ******** Find us on Facebook or...
Published 04/03/23
In January of 2016, people started to find body parts wrapped in shopping bags on a stretch of the Grand Canal in Co. Kildare. To gardai, this looked like a gangland hit. But when the remains were identified as 33 year old Kenneth O'Brien, it was quickly determined that he was not known to be involved in anything illegal. Why was Kenneth O'Brien killed? This episode was researched and written by Aileen Spearin. ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on...
Published 03/21/23
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? ******** Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With...
Published 03/06/23
Mary Boyle disappeared from a swampy field next her grandparents home in an isolated part of Donegal in 1977. She disappeared without a trace, and her case has become the longest running missing child case in Ireland. In forty years, the case has seen only one arrest and also has been linked with notorious Scottish child-killer Robert Black, and has drawn the attention of controversial media figures. But, through all that, Mary is still missing, and her mother still prays daily to know what...
Published 01/16/23
On the night of the 3rd of September 1999, Raonaid Murray was walking home through Dun Laoghaire and Glenageary in South Dublin. As she took a short cut through a quiet laneway, she was attacked. Her murder has never been solved. Research Assistance for this episode by Eileen MacFarlene ********* Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out the Mens Rea Merch Store! ********* With thanks...
Published 11/21/22
In December of 1993, 35 year old Marie Kilmartin got a phone call. Then, she left her house and never returned. Marie's body was recovered some six months later, in a bog 25 km from her home in Portlaoise. She had been strangled. Why would anyone want to hurt this friendly, vulnerable woman? ********* Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out the Mens Rea Merch Store! ********* Theme...
Published 11/08/22
In December of 1997, 53 year old bachelor farmer Tom Clisham was found dead in his cottage in Galway. He hadn't been seen in some time, and his body was in such a bad state no visual identification could be made. It seemed some sort of fight had occurred in his home - but over what, Gardai had no clue. Who killed Tom Clisham? ********* Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out the...
Published 10/24/22
Here’s a preview of Bad Women: The Blackout Ripper. Over a single week in February 1942, a depraved serial killer stalked London’s dark and WWII bomb-ravaged streets, hunting for victims in the city’s bars and clubs. But the victims of the so-called Blackout Ripper are now all but forgotten. Using new research from police files, court transcripts and exhaustive genealogical studies, season 2 of Hallie Rubenhold’s Bad Women reconstructs the lives of the women The Blackout Ripper brutally...
Published 10/18/22