Irish woman arrested in South Africa eight years after…

Irish woman arrested in South Africa eight years after alleged double murder of best friends

An Irish woman who left Ireland eight years ago after the alleged double murder of two best friends has been arrested in South Africa.

Ruth Lawrence, 42, originally from Clontarf in North Dublin was at the centre of a global search and was arrested by police on Wednesday.

The Hawks – an elite South African police unit – said they were acting on an international warrant, issued by gardai on suspicion of the murder of pals Anthony Keegan and Eoin O’Connor in Co Cavan in 2014.

Lawrence left Ireland with Neville Van Westhuizen, 39, believed to be her boyfriend at the time following the alleged double murder in May of that year.

The lifelong pals were shot dead in Cavan before their bodies were wrapped in a tarpaulin and dumped on an island in Lough Sheelin on the border with Meath.

The men, who were from Coolock in north Dublin were not regarded as serious criminals but are believed to have gone to Cavan to pick up a €15,000 drugs debt for a gangster in the capital.

However, they were ambushed when they got to Cavan – and shot dead.

Gardai in Cavan recently secured European arrest warrants.

Ireland has no extradition agreement with South Africa, but authorities requested they be sent to Ireland and cops detained Lawrence earlier this week.

Her boyfriend is also wanted in connection with the killings but is already serving a life sentence in South Africa for a horrific killing.

The Gardai confirmed the two dead men were not serious criminals or part of a drugs gang.

The pals were found wrapped in plastic sheeting and buried in a shallow grave on Inchicup Island, Lough Sheelin eight years ago.

Lawrence is believed to have split with her then "boyfriend" Van Westhuizen in 2017.

Hawks spokesperson Captain Christopher Singo said vital information about Lawrence and her whereabouts was received on September 28.

She was arrested in Pellissier, Bloemfontein, yesterday in connection with the killing of “best friends” Eoin O’Connor and Anthony Keegan.

Their bodies were found wrapped in plastic sheeting and buried in a shallow grave.

Her former boyfriend is currently serving 15 years in Durban prison for the murder of a teenager in 2017 and will be quizzed by the Hawks.

Captain Singo said: “Her arrest comes on an Interpol warrant regarding the murder of Eoin O’Connor, 32, and Anthony Keegan, 33, in Ireland.

“They were both found murdered in 2014."

Mr Keegan and Mr O’Connor were buried after a joint funeral service in their native Kilmore West near Coolock in June 2014.

Gardai mounted a massive hunt for the victims, after they vanished when they went to Cavan on April 22 - and that search came to an end five weeks later when their decomposed bodies were found on the island.

Both men had been shot in the head, before they were wrapped together in a tarpaulin, dumped in a hollow on the island and covered in foliage.

Anthony's devastated sister Margaret told mourners at the joint funeral that the pals were always together.

She said: "They were inseparable - he would say he is a brother from a different mother.

"He would text me and tell me he was with his other half, meaning Eoin."

And she paid tribute to gardai and others who kept up the search for the missing men.

She said: "We would like to thank everyone who was involved in the searches for the boys who never gave up.

"All the communities that came together to help us in every way, it means so much to know how loved the boys were.

"We would also like to thank the guards for their tireless efforts and compassion toward us as a family.