Sex beast Larry Murphy remains a “person of interest” in the cases of several missing women who gardai believe may have been murdered by a serial killer.
Investigating officers have not discounted the theory the women, who all disappeared in the 1990s, died at the hands of a lone predator. Wicklow native Murphy – dubbed the Beast of Baltinglass – was jailed for the 2000 kidnap, rape and attempted murder of a young Carlow woman and remains a suspect in other cases.
The 57-year-old monster locked his victim in the boot of his car, raped her repeatedly at various locations and tried to suffocate her with a plastic bag.
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The ordeal happened within an area known as the Vanishing Triangle and formed part of a review by the Operation Trace team probing the disappearance of six women in the 1990s. Retired detective Alan Bailey explained: “Larry, of course, because of the modus operandi he used in the abduction and assault became a person of interest to the Operation Trace investigation.
“I mean, he ticked an awful lot of boxes for us. We went back to school, to work and all that just to establish a picture of him and see if we could connect him to any of our missing persons. There was no obvious link and we were saying to ourselves ‘he ticks a lot of boxes’ so he was a person of interest.”
Operation Trace was set up in 1998 to review the cases of Annie McCarrick, Fiona Pender, Fiona Sinnott, Deirdre Jacob, Jo Jo Dullard and Ciara Breen. Murphy is the chief suspect in the disappearance of Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob, and gardai have not ruled out a link to other missing women.
In an RTE documentary which airs on Monday, former Assistant Commissioner Tony Hickey, who led Operation Trace, said Murphy’s arrest raised alarm bells from the off.
He said: “It was in the region concerned – more or less the centre of what was called the Triangle. Alibis, they’re as good as the weakest link. We tried to learn from what was being done in other countries.
“In three of the cases there were very good suspects.” The concluding episode of Missing: Beyond The Vanishing Triangle focuses on attempts by gardai to establish if a serial killer was at large during the 1990s.
It features an interview with Larry Murphy’s estranged brother Tom who reveals that the last time he saw Larry was in 2005 in Arbour Hill prison. He said: “I asked him had he anything to do with the missing women. I wasn’t happy with his answers.
“I wasn’t at all happy with them. I didn’t get any answers.
“I never want to see him again. I can’t begin to comprehend the suffering these families are going through. They get up in the morning to a house, their daughter is not there. They’re sitting watching the front door to open for her to walk in.
“I have a daughter myself. I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like. I just can’t.”
Operation Trace was expanded to take in other cases including the 1993 disappearance of 22-year-old Imelda Keenan from Waterford city. The case was initially categorised as a possible suicide – but the missing woman’s family dispute this.
Imelda’s brother Gerry Keenan said: “Imelda would never ever think of suicide. I don’t think Imelda would ever consider that. “Deep down, in my own heart, I think that Imelda was murdered in Waterford. I think Imelda knew her murderer.”
Gerry is now calling for the case to be upgraded to a murder investigation and has written to gardai seeking answers. He added: “Is this a missing or a murder case? After 29 years, this has to be [a] murder case.
“We want the gardai to look into it more for us and give us peace. I always believed there is two or three people here in Waterford city holding back vital information.
“We want someone to come forward please and take us out of this pain.” An Garda Siochana has confirmed the disappearance of Imelda Keenan remains listed as a missing person case.
Murphy was freed in August 2010 after serving 10 years of a 15-year sentence for abduction, rape and attempted murder. He sought anonymity in Amsterdam after getting out of jail, but was photographed in the company of rapist and since convicted killer Rory O’Connor in 2012.
O’Connor was jailed for life in April 2022 after being convicted of the murder of his fiancee Diane Nichol in Edinburgh, Scotland. He killed Diane by repeatedly kicking, stamping and striking her head against the ground.
He had previously been given a ten-year jail term for the rape and sexual assault of a woman in Dublin in 2002. Murphy fled Amsterdam for London and used a number of aliases while living there and working as a carpenter.
Gardai travelled to London in 2018 to quiz Murphy about an alleged prison confession to a cellmate, but he refused to cooperate. In 2021, gardai asked the Director of Public Prosecutions for him to be charged with the murder of Deirdre Jacob, even though her body was never found. No charges were brought.
While he remains a person of interest, gardai have never been able to uncover sufficient evidence to connect him to the disappearance of any of the missing women. Missing: Beyond The Vanishing Triangle airs on RTE One tomorrow at 9.35pm.
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