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O'Connor, Patricia found 6-11-17; IRE: torso found in Wicklow Mountains
Topic Started: Jun 11 2017, 02:10 PM (39 Views)
tatertot
Advanced Member
[ *  *  * ]
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-l...cklow-1.3115635

Gardaí investigating after human torso found in Wicklow
Police believe person was murdered but remains not thought to be those of James Nolan
about 11 hours ago Updated: about an hour ago
Conor Gallagher

Gardaí believe a person whose remains were found in the Wicklow Mountains on Saturday evening was murdered.

The remains, understood to consist of a torso, were found close to an isolated part of the Military Road near Glencree by members of the public.

It is understood that the remains are not skeletal and were placed there in the recent past. An examination on the torso was taking place on Sunday night which gardaí believe will provide clues as to the time of death and when the remains were dumped there. It is not yet known if the deceased is male or female.

Speaking at Bray Garda station on Sunday, Supt Pat Ward said a murder investigation had yet to be officially launched but that investigators believed the victim met a violent end.
“The investigation we have launched is comparable to a murder investigation. We believe the person who died came to their death by sinister means,” he said. “We’re putting as much resources into it as we would into a normal murder investigation.”

The remains were found shortly before 8pm on Saturday by two hillwalkers. They believed they had found a human torso and alerted gardaí. Officers from Bray visited the scene and concluded they were dealing with a human body part. A local doctor was called to the scene and he came to the same conclusion.

The Military Road between Glencree and the Featherbeds was still sealed off on Sunday night as gardaí searched the area for more remains or items that could provide clues.

The Garda Technical Bureau and Deputy State Pathologist Michael Curtis examined the scene on Sunday before the remains were taken to the Mater hospital in Dublin to be X-rayed. They were then taken to the pathology department in Whitehall for further examination.

“We are trying to establish a timeframe,” Supt Ward said. “We will be guided by Dr Curtis’s investigation.”

The remains are not believed to be those of convicted rapist James Nolan whose body parts have been found in several locations since his disappearance in 2011.

The site of the find is located about 1km from the Glencree Peace and Reconciliation Centre on the Dublin side. The area is popular with cyclists and hillwalkers and gardaí are appealing for witnesses who may have seen something suspicious in the last few weeks.
“In particular we’re appealing to people who use the area for recreational purposes such as walkers, cyclists, motorcyclists, hillwalkers. And also people who work up with the National Parks and Wildlife Services and Coillte and people who use the area for hunting,” Supt Ward said.

Gardaí believe that the suspect may return to the area in the near future to remove incriminating evidence now that part of the body has been found.

Anyone with information or who has spotted any unusual behaviour in the area is asked to contact Bray Garda station on (01) 666 5300, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800-666-111 or any Garda station.
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tatertot
Advanced Member
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:( May Patricia Rest in Peace :(
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-l...named-1.3118697

Victim in ‘gruesome’ Wicklow Mountains murder case named
Neighbours of Patricia O’Connor in Rathfarnham describe her as ‘lovely person’
Tue, Jun 13, 2017, 22:13 Updated: about 21 hours ago
Conor Lally, Conor Gallagher

The person gardaí believe was murdered before her remains were scattered in the Wicklow Mountains has been named as Dublin woman Patricia O’Connor.

Investigators believe Ms O’Connor was beaten to death with a blunt instrument before her body was dismembered.

Gardaí have arrested a man (32) in connection with the death. It is understood the man handed himself in at a Wexford Garda station yesterday.

Ms O’Connor, who was in her late 50s or early 60s, was a mother-of-two and grandmother who lived in south Dublin and worked as a chef at Mount Carmel Hospital in Churchtown.
She had not been reported missing prior to her remains been found.

Gardaí and an army search team have found remains at eight locations along an isolated 20km stretch of road which runs through the mountains. It is understood most if not all of her remains have been located with gardaí believing a power tool was used to dismember the body.

Garda sources said a very unusual feature in the case is that some of the body parts were cut into very small parts. The circumstances of killing and the search were so gruesome they shocked even veteran Garda investigators.

Ms O’Connor and the suspect were known to each other and gardaí believe the killing was a spur of the moment incident.

An address in Rathmines in Dublin has become a place of interest to gardaí gathering evidence in the case.

‘Lovely person’

From Mountain View Park in Rathfarnham, Ms O’Connor was described on Wednesday night by neighbours as a “lovely person”.

It is believed the grandmother was not living in the Rathfarnham address, but visited the family home very regularly.

One resident on the street, who lived opposite the O’Connors, said they were a normal family.

“We’d know everyone around here, we’d all be very familiar with each other,” she said. “She hadn’t lived in the house for about 10 years so I wouldn’t be as familiar with her. It’s a small street, usually full of kids playing, but it’s quiet out today. It’s just a shocking thing to happen.”

Throughout Wednesday, gardaí called in to various residents on the street looking to see if any neighbours had information about the family.

Another neighbour, a father of a young family who lived directly across the road from ther home, said the house was always lively and full of children playing in the garden.

“They were a normal family. She had plenty of grandchildren. I wouldn’t have been as familiar with her now, but I was shocked when I heard everything.”

Panic

Gardaí believe Ms O’Connor was killed about two weeks ago and her body dismembered in a panicked bid to conceal the murder. The arrested man is co-operating with the inquiry and has provided key information to detectives.

It is believed the woman was killed and likely dismembered in Dublin before the body parts were driven to or towards Wexford.

Detectives believe the killer was looking for a spot to dispose of the remains in the Wexford area but then deviated from that plan.

Instead, the killer drove back towards Dublin and the body parts were disposed of in the Wicklow mountains where the first traces of the woman’s remains were found by hillwalkers last Saturday.

The suspect is understood to have returned to Wexford but presented himself to gardaí after a number of days of intense media coverage of the matter.

His arrest came shortly after a woman’s head and hands were found in plastic bags. A section of a torso had earlier been found but it was apparently not large enough to determine if it was that of a woman.

Supt Pat Ward of Bray Garda station ruled out the possibility that the case involved two dismembered bodies.

“This has been a very complex investigation for us and very unusual in the manner of the investigation,” he said of the inquiry. “With each find we have made significant progress and now have new information and have developed a more complete picture.

“It may be a little gruesome in what I have to say and I’m conscious of the fact that the body found is of a loved one, but I have to say that what we have found today are limbs and significant parts of the torso.
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