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Irish Times
7 days ago
- Irish Times
No new Garda investigation or ‘cold case review' into 1976 murder of Elizabeth Plunkett
The family of Elizabeth Plunkett, who was raped and murdered in 1976 by British criminals John Shaw and Geoffrey Evans, have pledged to continue their campaign against Shaw's release from prison. This is despite claimed new evidence failing to prompt a fresh Garda investigation into the killing of the Dublin woman. Although the family has written to Minister for Justice Jim O'Callaghan and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris , the case has not been reopened. There are also no plans for a Garda 'cold case review'. Garda Headquarters has, in reply to recent media queries, urged anyone with information on the case to come forward. However, sources played down the significance of that. They said it was a standard reference in reply to media queries about any unsolved crime, rather than a specific development in the case. READ MORE James MacGuill, a solicitor representing the Plunkett family, said people had come forward offering information after RTÉ broadcast a podcast series, Stolen Sister, prompted by Ms Plunkett's sisters Kathleen Nolan and Bernie Plunkett. 'The next logical step would be to, at least, appoint a specific [Garda] officer to co-ordinate all this,' Mr MacGuill said. In reply to queries, Garda Headquarters said a Garda investigation had been conducted, in the 1970s, into the death of Ms Plunkett. This 'ultimately led' to Shaw being charged with her 'murder, rape and false imprisonment' – though the murder charge was later dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions . The Garda added that anyone with new information on the case should come forward. The Department of Justice said Mr O'Callaghan 'cannot intervene' in the workings of the Garda or DPP's office as they were 'independent'. [ Witnesses supply new information on 1976 killers of Elizabeth Plunkett Opens in new window ] In August 1976, Ms Plunkett (23) was abducted and killed near Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow . A month later, Mayo woman Mary Duffy was kidnapped and murdered. Both had been violently sexually attacked. Evans and Shaw were arrested in Galway in September 1976. Evans was convicted of Ms Duffy's murder but acquitted of Ms Plunkett's killing. He died in jail in 2012. Shaw was also convicted of Ms Duffy's murder but the DPP later dropped the charge of murdering Ms Plunkett, without explanation. Ms Plunkett's sisters found out only recently that neither man had ever been convicted of her murder and were jailed for life for Ms Duffy's killing only. The Parole Board is currently reviewing an application for release from Shaw, who in now 79 and has been in jail for 49 years. Though they were initially included in that process as 'relevant victims', Ms Plunkett's family were excluded when it was realised the only sentence Shaw is now serving is for the murder of Ms Duffy. Ms Plunkett's family believe Shaw still poses a danger to the public and should not be freed. Multiple women have come forward in recent years to say they believe they were also targeted by Shaw and Evans during the men's 1976 crime spree.
Irish Times
11-07-2025
- Irish Times
Witnesses supply new information on 1976 killers of Elizabeth Plunkett
A further seven people have come forward to allege they were potentially targeted, or witnessed others being targeted, by serial killers Geoffrey Evans and John Shaw in 1976, around the time the pair murdered two women in different parts of Ireland. In June, eight women alleged they were potentially targeted by the men . Dublin woman Elizabeth Plunkett was murdered by Shaw and Evans in 1976. The two men went on to rape and murder another woman, Mary Duffy (23), in Galway before being caught a short time later. A podcast series launched by RTÉ concerning Ms Plunkett's murder has highlighted the fact that despite the men's confessions, no one was ever convicted for her death. READ MORE Evans died in custody in 2012. Shaw, the State's longest-serving prisoner, has been denied parole on multiple occasions. [ 'Ireland's first serial killer' John Shaw could be freed from prison in early 2026 Opens in new window ] Since the Stolen Sister podcast began, several witnesses have come forward with claims that they were approached by the men or witnessed other people being approached by them. Evans was tried and convicted for the murder of Ms Duffy, but the trial judge ordered the jury to return a not-guilty verdict for Ms Plunkett's murder. Shaw was put on trial solely for the murder of Ms Duffy. His first trial ended in a hung jury. He was convicted in a later trial, and both men received life terms. The Director of Public Provisions subsequently withdrew charges against Shaw relating to Ms Plunkett's rape and murder. Despite this, over the years it became accepted knowledge that Shaw and Evans were convicted of her murder. The 'fact' was repeated in books, articles and by authorities. The new witnesses come from across Ireland, including Dublin, Wicklow, Tipperary, Galway and Mayo. Similar to previous testimonies, the witnesses suggest Shaw and Evans made failed attempts to murder more victims than previously known. The witnesses have been put in touch with James McGuill, the solicitor who represents the family of Ms Plunkett. Mr McGuill said: 'We believe that if a decision was taken not to prosecute John Shaw for this murder, it was in all probability influenced by a view that there was inadequate corroborative evidence of his confession.' He added 'there is evidence available that would not have formed part of the case file at the time of trial that may justify a cold case review at this stage.' One Mayo woman claimed that when she was 20, she was chased by Shaw and Evans while she was driving to Galway city in 1976. They followed her to the house where she was staying. 'As I pulled up outside the house they pulled in beside me, right beside my passenger door. I could see the driver. He had a beard and was wearing glasses. I saw the second man going behind the car and coming around to my side. So I just hopped out of my car, I had the house key in my hand.' She said she walked backwards into her house, telling the men she had no money to take. She asked them what they wanted, to which one of the men replied: 'you'. She said she then got inside, closed the front door and fainted. The incident was reported to Eglinton Garda station. The woman said her only memory of being interviewed by gardaí was 'them giving out to me for not getting the number plate and asking me what I was doing driving on my own at that hour of the morning.' She said a number of years ago, a woman from Mayo shared a similar experience with her. 'The subject of Mary Duffy came up and she mentioned how Shaw and Evans had tried to abduct her before Mary Duffy was killed, and I was like, what did you just say?' One man claims he was approached by Evans in Bray in 1976, when he was 12½ old. He is the first man to contact the podcast with evidence matching the timeline of the case. He claims he was approached by an 'unkempt man with an English accent' while looking at CB Radios in Dicker's electrical shop window. 'I didn't like the look or sound of him so I ignored him. He persisted and out of politeness I eventually responded', he said. 'He asked me if I wanted to go with him for a cup of tea and a bun. At this stage alarm bells were ringing loud and I had a strong sense of stranger danger. The whole encounter from start to finish lasted about 10 minutes.' He forgot about the incident until 2012, when he saw a photograph of Evans in The Sunday World, in an article reporting his death. Another man claims Shaw and Evans tried to abduct two of his female friends in 1976. [ Elizabeth Plunkett: How murdered woman's family discovered they were not 'relevant victims' in serial killer case Opens in new window ] He said the two men jumped out of their cars and tried to push the women into the back seat. 'The girls were fit and strong and fought back and screamed', he said. [ The late summer murders: Two men on a mission to kill Irish women Opens in new window ] 'Shortly after they began pointing at a car driving towards us and that was the two men who tried to abduct them. I saw the passenger quite clearly.' He said 'I believe the two men who tried to abduct my friend's sister and her friend could well have been them [Evans and Shaw].'
Irish Times
07-07-2025
- Irish Times
‘Ireland's first serial killer' will not face rape charges in Britain
British police have carried out a cold case review into a series of rapes allegedly committed by murderer John Shaw, who is known as 'Ireland's first serial killer'. The review said, however, unless new evidence came to light then Shaw (79) should not face any further charges relating to the attacks carried out in the 1970s. This means Shaw, who is Ireland's longest-serving prisoner, will be a free man if he is successful in reapplying for parole early in 2026. Shaw and accomplice Geoffrey Evans had come to Ireland from the UK with the claimed intention of murdering one woman a week. READ MORE In August 1976 Elizabeth Plunkett (23) was abducted and killed near Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow. A month later, Galway woman Mary Duffy was kidnapped and murdered by the men. Both women were subjected to extensive sexual violence. The men were caught shortly afterwards and confessed to their crimes. They received a life sentence each for Ms Duffy's murder. However, charges against Shaw relating to Ms Plunkett's murder were dropped by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), something which the Plunkett family only became aware of recently. Elizabeth Plunkett's sisters want the investigation into her death to be reopened Before arriving in Ireland, Shaw and Evans were wanted by various British police forces for allegedly raping three victims over the course of five days in Cheshire and Leigh, northwest England. The attacks bore similarities to what happened to Ms Duffy and Ms Plunkett. During one attack, a 15-year-old girl was kidnapped and raped over the course of eight hours. [ Elizabeth Plunkett: How murdered woman's family discovered they were not 'relevant victims' in serial killer case ] As the police manhunt intensified, Evans and Shaw fled to Ireland where they committed burglaries before being arrested and jailed for a year. After their release, they were rearrested by gardaí for extradition to Britain to face the rape charges. However, the men argued they were not the same suspects as those sought by British police and were released on bail. It was then they started their planned murder spree. Evans (68) died in custody in 2012. Shaw remains in Arbour Hill Prison in Dublin. Last August, on learning Shaw was applying for parole, a cold case team from Greater Manchester Police re-examined the rape offences as a priority. Their goal was to determine if Shaw could be finally extradited to Britain if he was successful in his parole bid. The police force said the cold case unit had completed its review and that 'no new developments have been made' in relation to the case. 'Should any further evidence or information come to light, further reviews would take place and the appropriate actions taken where necessary,' a spokesman said. He clarified that this meant that unless new evidence came to light then the rape cases were in effect closed. The police force did not go into detail on why it was not pursing the rape charges. There are many reasons historical prosecutions cannot go ahead, including the death of witnesses and the loss of vital evidence. Ms Plunkett's sisters, Kathleen Nolan and Bernadette Barry, have called on the Irish authorities to reopen the investigation into her death, with a view to securing a conviction against Shaw and ensuring he is not released. In response to queries, An Garda Síochána said it was up to the DPP to decide on reopening the case. A DPP spokeswoman said it does not comment on individual cases, but said that in general cases cannot be reopened without 'a new Garda investigation file which identified sufficient evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of a successful prosecution of an identified suspect'. The family hopes to gather enough new evidence to reopen the case. Last month, RTÉ began airing a podcast on Ms Plunkett's case. Called Stolen Sister, it has led to multiple women coming forward saying they were targeted by men in the mid-1970s who may have been Shaw and Evans.
Daily Mail
05-07-2025
- Daily Mail
The sick British serial killers you've never heard of: Geoffrey Evans and John Shaw planned to rape and kill a new woman each week... with new victims still coming forward today
Two of Britain's worst ever serial killers, who have been forgotten by history, may finally face justice after the Gardai face pressure to open a cold case against them. Geoffrey Evans and John Shaw travelled from the UK to Ireland to carry out a pre-planned crime spree in the 1970s before being caught and sentenced to life in prison. They were dubbed Ireland's first serial killers after fleeing from England with a plan to rape and murder a new woman each week in the Emerald Isle. After their arrest, they confessed to the murder of both Mary Duffy from Galway, and Elizabeth Plunkett, who was originally from Ringsend in Dublin. However, the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew charges related to Elizabeth's death and the pair were only convicted for Mary's murder back in 1978. They were sentenced to life in prison. Now, eight women have come forward to allege they were potentially targeted by the serial killers, whiles the family of Plunkett have launched a fresh call for a cold case review. Shaw, now in his late 70s, is said to be a 'nervous wreck' behind bars and worried that further cases will stop his chances of day release, according to Irish media. Evans died behind bars in 2012. Speaking on RTÉ podcast Stolen Sister, Elizabeth's family have shared their fight for justice and recounted one of the most horrifying chapters of their lives. Since the launch of the podcast, eight women have come forward to allege they were potentially targeted by serial killers. Solicitor James McGuill, who represents Elizabeth Plunkett's family, is gathering the testimonies. One witness said she was hit by a car on the way home from a pub on the same night Plunkett was killed by the pair after leaving the same pub. More women have come forward with 'strikingly similar accounts of being pursued by these two guys,' Mr McGuill told the Irish Times. In August 1976, Elizabeth had travelled to Brittas Bay, Wicklow, for a weekend away with her boyfriend Damian and a group of friends. After having a trivial quarrel with her boyfriend at McDaniels pub she left alone and accepted a ride from two men in a van, who were on the hunt for women. The 23-year-old was dragged into Castletimon Woods, where she was raped and strangled to death with her own blouse sleeve before the killers weighed her body down with a lawn‑mower and dumped her at sea. Her distraught family and friends launched a frantic search but four weeks later her remains washed ashore on Duncormick Beach and she was identified through dental records. Speaking on the podcast, Kathleen Nolan and Bernie Plunkett, sisters of Elizabeth who are now in their 60's, recounted the moment their family were told of their sister's disappearance. Bernie, who was 19 at the time, said: 'Damien came down and he told us they had a row, and Elizabeth said she was going home. He said they searched for her and they can not find her.' Kathleen, who was 14 at the time, remembered her mother instinctively knowing that Elizabeth was dead. She said: 'Immediately she said ''well why would she not be able to make her way home from Wicklow, she had been all around, she knows her stuff, there is nothing to stop her from getting from A to B.' My mam said ''Elizabeth is dead, otherwise she would be here'', she just knew.' The family immediately reported her missing to police and Damien went back to Wicklow to see if she had showed up at the caravan park they were staying in. However by the Monday there was still no sign of the 23-year-old and the family knew something was wrong. One week after her disappearance police led an extensive search around Brittas Bay and Elizabeth's friends found her bra and shoes in the wooded area. Elizabeth's brother Thomas said: 'I remember looking at the pair of shoes, and this is the worst part for me to talk about... when she was being dragged the dirt was on the back of her heels.' The family also found Elizabeth's watch and scarf and later police found a pair of men's black boots in a laneway leading into the woods and a piece of cardboard with the name Geoffrey Murphy written on it. Geoffrey Murphy was the name Evans was using as his false name in Ireland. Police managed to piece together the clues and soon they were looking for Geoffrey Evans and John Shaw. One month after she was abducted, Elizabeth's body washed ashore on Duncormick Beach. Due to the level of decomposition, the post-mortem examination in 1976 did not record an official cause of death. However it said it was probable she was dead before entering the water because there was no water in her lungs. The salt water had also washed any forensic evidence that could link Shaw and Evans to her murder. While the coroner at the time could not say her death was a result of strangulation, he also could not rule that out. Once the post-mortem examination was over Elizabeth's body was released back to the family. Speaking on the podcast, her brother Thomas said: 'It was the first time I ever saw my father cry, we didn't know it then but our family would never be the same again.' As suspicions grew around the two Englishmen roaming freely around Ireland, Gardaí issued a nationwide alert for their capture, but no one knew these men were already hatching another chilling plan, to abduct, rape, and murder another woman. Another young woman in Fethard, Co Tipperary, reported being chased by two men, who she later identified as Shaw and Evans, after watching a television report of their arrest. Speaking on the podcast, the woman, who wanted to remain anonymous, recalled: 'I was walking home down rural country roads, roads that I had walked all my life, it was a lovely evening around 9pm. 'I hadn't walked too far up the the road when a car passed me by and then stopped, as I walked closer to it two men got out and started running at me, I knew immediately I was in trouble. 'I was a fit 18-year-old woman so I ran for my life, I had no idea who these men were but I knew I had to get away. I was terrified in that moment. 'I ran back to my friends house and jumped a large garden wall to get in off the road, I could still hear their footsteps running behind me. I ran in the front door of my friends house and locked it behind me, I got an awful fright at the time. 'My friends brother dropped me home, I told my parents what happened and my father reported it to the local Guardì.' A further eight women came forward to allege they were potentially targeted by serial two men in 1976, but they managed to get away. Geoffrey Evans and John Shaw, from the Greater Manchester area, who were both married with children of their own, had fled England from rape charges and had spent a year in prison in Ireland for various robberies. They were on bail from a Dublin court and were due to be extradited back to the UK to face multiple charges, including the rape of three women, one of a 16-year-old girl. However, on September 10, the two men were meant to be appearing in the Bridewell in Dublin, explaining why they should not be extradited back to England, but they never showed. They had stolen a car and were ready to seek out their next victim, 23-year-old Mary Duffy. On the evening of September 22, Mary finished her shift at the Coffee Shop on Ellison Street, County Mayo. She did not have any money on her, so borrowed some coins from a colleague to call her brother Michael to ask him to collect her but he was fixing a customers car at a local garage where he worked. Shaw and Evans had been watching Mary make the phone call, then leave and start walking alone. Once more, Shaw exited the car, and Evans parked it further up the street, Shaw followed her silently, and then, when she came alongside the parked car, he dragged her in. Some locals heard screams but couldn't see anything. Shaw said in his statement to police: 'Somewhere along the road, I started to drive and Geoff got into the back of the car with her. She didn't scream but said, "Don't do me any harm".' They stopped at the derelict railway station building near Ballinahinch were they dragged Mary out of the car, stripped her naked, and took her into the woods before taking turns raping her throughout the night. They held Mary captive for over 24 hours in the woods, they gave her valium, tried to feed her a cheese sandwich but she refused and eventually they strangled her to death. A few days later the men were caught in Galway on September 26, 1976, while planning a third abduction. A team of 35 divers, from Garda, Naval and Army units, including civilian volunteers, spent almost two weeks searching Lough Inagh for Mary's body. Mary's body was eventually located in a crevice by volunteer diver and she was buried in Elmhall Cemetery in her home village of Belcarra, Co Mayo, on October 13. During police interviews Evan's confessed to abducted, raping and killing Elizabeth and Mary, he even told police where to find Mary's body. In a police interview about Elizabeth's death, Shaw said: 'We passed her out and Geoffrey stopped, I got out and he turned the car and went back and picked up the girl.' Evans added: 'She said ''are you going to Dublin, I said I'm not going to Dublin but I can still give you a lift, she got into the front passenger seat.' Shaw said: 'He then picked me up, I was in the back and the girl was in the front seat. She told us she had a row with her boyfriend. Evans added: 'We were talking about normal things for a while and then we started messing with the girl. She started to scream in the car and we shoved tissue's in her mouth.' The men revealed they then drove to the nearby wooded area and dragged Elizabeth out of the car. However, during the Garda investigation, Shaw and Evans turned on one another-each blaming the other for the murders. They both received life sentences and became known as the State's first serial killers. Shaw is Ireland's longest-serving prisoner. Evans died age 68 from sepsis in St Mary's Hospital in the Phoenix Park on May 20, 2012, where he had been in a coma for several years following a stroke after heart bypass surgery in December 2008. No family claimed his body and he was buried by the state in an unmarked grave in Ireland. However, for nearly half a century, the Plunkett family believed justice had been served, only to be blindsided in 2023, when they were told Elizabeth was never legally recognised as a murder victim. This shocking revelation emerged during parole discussions for Shaw, who remains incarcerated. Originally both men were charged with murder, rape and false imprisonment of Elizabeth and Mary. However, when Shaw began a parole application nearly two years ago, it was revealed he had never been convicted for Elizabeth's murder. It was also revealed to the Plunkett family that the State never held an inquest into the death of Elizabeth and they never issued a death certificate in her name. While Shaw was never convicted of crimes against Elizabeth, Evans was convicted of her rape and false imprisonment, but not murder, something the family had been unaware of until 2023. They learned the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew charges related to Elizabeth's death by entering a nolle prosequi, which is a formal notice of abandonment. Meaning the pair were only convicted for Mary Duffy's murder back in 1978, receiving mandatory life sentences. Despite both men confessing to her abduction and murder, unbelievably no one has ever been found guilty of Elizabeth's murder. Speaking to the podcast, Elizabeth's brother Thomas said: 'We never got to know did my dad understand that for some legal reason Shaw was never convicted of Elizabeth's murder. 'I think my father was told that these men would never ever see freedom again.' Bernie added: 'My father was fobbed off, it was easy to fob off a man who was absolutely devastated, distraught and completely out of his depth.' Kathleen said: 'I didn't understand the courts at 18-years of age, other then if someone goes to jail it means they done wrong and they went to jail.' Their father died of a heart attack while he was driving and a year later their mother also died, seven years after Elizabeth's murder. In January this year, an inquest returned a long-overdue verdict of unlawful killing, with coroner Dr. Sean Nixon confirming asphyxia from strangulation as the cause of death. Solicitor James MacGuill read a statement on behalf of the Plunkett family in January 2025 outside the court. He said: 'Elizabeth was hunted down and savagely killed by two men who, less than a month later, went on to murder another woman, Mary Duffy. 'Despite these vile criminals confessing to murdering both Elizabeth and Mary, they were only ever convicted of Mary's murder. 'With this new development, we're calling on Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to reopen the case into Elizabeth's death and submit a new file to the DPP. 'Although one culprit died, the other remains in an Irish prison for murdering Mary Duffy. 'But he also confessed and was charged with falsely imprisoning, raping and murdering our sister Elizabeth – yet the DPP decided against prosecuting him for these crimes by entering a nolle prosequi. We now want the DPP to explain that decision. 'Our family, and in particular, our parents Tommy and Kathleen, were destroyed by Elizabeth's murder. They never recovered from her death. 'We relied on the authorities to do their job at that time – but they failed us – and they failed our cherished sister.' According to information given to the Plunkett family by the Victim Liaison Office of the Irish Prison Service, Shaw's most recent parole application has been refused. He will be eligible to apply for parole again in February of next year. The family of Elizabeth are hoping the Garda Commissioner decides to reopen the case and resubmit charges against Shaw.
Irish Times
05-07-2025
- Irish Times
Elizabeth Plunkett: How murdered woman's family discovered they were not ‘relevant victims' in serial killer case
When something false is repeated often enough, it has a tendency to become accepted fact. At some point a seed of incorrect information takes root in the public discourse before spreading through newspaper articles, books and political statements. Eventually, the actual truth becomes almost impossible to discern. It is a phenomenon known to researchers as the illusory truth effect. The family of Elizabeth Plunkett came face to face with this effect in 2023 after getting a call from the Parole Board. Elizabeth was a 23-year-old woman from Ringsend in Dublin who, in 1976, was kidnapped and murdered by two English men. The killers, John Shaw and Geoffrey Evans, had come to Ireland with the aim of murdering one woman every week. A month after Elizabeth's death, they murdered another young woman, Mary Duffy, from Co Galway , before being caught by gardaí and confessing to their crimes. READ MORE Shaw and Evans became known as Ireland's first serial killers. Both received life sentences and Evans died in custody in 2012 at the age of 72. Shaw (78) remains in Arbour Hill Prison. He is Ireland's longest-serving prisoner. He sought to change that in 2023 by applying for parole, having already been granted release for two days a year. Under a new parole act passed in 2019, the Plunkett family had an automatic right to express their views on Shaw's parole bid. Elizabeth Plunkett was 23 when she was murdered by John Shaw and Geoffrey Evans in 1976 When the family were contacted by the Parole Board, it was decided two of Elizabeth's sisters, Bernadette Barry and Kathleen Nolan, would speak for all of the siblings. They spent hours drafting their submissions, explaining the ongoing trauma of Elizabeth's murder and the effect it had on their parents who both died a few years afterwards. Shaw should not be released under any circumstances, they said. 'I poured my heart and soul into that,' said Kathleen this week. 'It was like slicing me open, with the trauma of remembering.' They repeated the process later in person during a meeting with two members of the Parole Board who would decide Shaw's future. 'We got emotional, we got angry – it was gruelling,' recalled Bernadette. Afterwards, the family put the matter to the back of their minds and prepared for the wedding of Kathleen's daughter that summer. That August, the sisters got a call from the solicitors representing them in the parole process and were asked to come into the office on a Saturday morning. Their solicitor, James McGuill, informed them that the Parole Board had made a serious mistake. It had been discovered the Plunkett family were not 'relevant victims' and therefore had no right to take part in Shaw's parole process. This was because Shaw had in fact never been convicted of Elizabeth's murder. Bernadette and Kathleen could not believe what they were hearing. For decades, newspaper articles and books had repeated the same 'fact': that John Shaw and Geoffrey Evans – 'Ireland's first serial killers' – were serving life for the murders of Elizabeth Plunkett and Mary Duffy. Elizabeth Plunkett: In 1979 the DPP dropped the charges against John Shaw relating to the Ringsend woman's rape and murder. To date, nothing has emerged to explain this decision More than that, various State agencies were under the same impression. Over the years, every time Shaw or Evans was moved out of the prison, for example for hospital appointments, the Irish Prison Service (IPS) contacted the Plunkett family 'as relevant victims' to let them know. Similarly, the Parole Board had contacted the family in the belief that Shaw had been convicted of Elizabeth's murder, only to realise belatedly its mistake. 'There's retired judges on the Parole Board,' said Kathleen. 'The highest echelons of Irish society get these jobs on these boards. They're highly educated people, and yet no one checked this out.' How did this illusory truth take hold? A look through the archives provides a few clues. Shaw and Evans confessed to raping and murdering both women shortly after their capture. However, the prosecution was a convoluted affair. First, a judge granted a defence application that the men be tried separately, as each one was blaming the other for the murders. For reasons that remain unclear, the judge also ordered the men be given separate trials for each of the murdered women, meaning a total of four trials. The hearing began in July 1977, when Shaw went on trial for Mary Duffy's rape and murder. To the surprise of many onlookers the jury became deadlocked on a verdict. He was retried and subsequently convicted. [ The late summer murders: Two men on a mission to kill Irish women Opens in new window ] The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) then successfully appealed the original judgment mandating separate trials, meaning they could try Evans for both of the murders at the same time. Following the trial, he was convicted of Mary Duffy's murder but, for reasons that are also unclear at this remove, the judge ordered the jury to find him not guilty of Elizabeth Plunkett's killing. Both men were sentenced to life for Mary Duffy's murder. Then, in 1979, the DPP dropped the charges against Shaw relating to Elizabeth's rape and murder. To date, nothing has emerged to explain this decision. It is possible the DPP believed Shaw would never be released so there was no point in going through the expense of another trial. Like the rest of Irish society, Bernadette and Elizabeth, who were teenagers at the time, went through their life believing Shaw was in prison for their sister's murder. They explained that during the trials, their father went to great lengths to shield the family from the trauma of the process. 'The way it was in the house, it wasn't discussed. My father would just shut down any conversation about it because it set my Mammy off. It was all about trying to keep us together because we were all ready to just lose the plot,' said Bernadette. 'When you see somebody going to jail and there was a court case, you just automatically live your life thinking, yeah, they were found guilty,' said Kathleen. After being informed about the Parole Board's mistake in August 2023, the sisters decided they would refuse to accept the label of 'not relevant victims'. Their solicitor hired two barristers to examine the case. After searching through the records, the lawyers found that not only had there been no conviction for Elizabeth's murder, no inquest had been held either. It would later emerge that a death certificate had not even been issued for the young woman. It felt like Elizabeth had been erased, the sisters said, and they were determined to address that. The sisters wrote to the Garda, the DPP and the Government but got nowhere. At that point they decided to go public and made contact with the RTÉ Documentary on One team, having been impressed by their investigation into abuse in Blackrock College. 'I said to Kathleen: they're meticulous. They have to be. Because they can't afford to be sued after all the Ryan Tubridy thing,' joked Bernadette. The sisters have nothing but praise for the documentary team, and in particular its producer Liam O'Brien. Last month RTÉ started publishing a six-part podcast on the case called Stolen Sister. Earlier this year, thanks to the sisters' campaign, an inquest was finally held into Elizabeth's death which recorded a verdict of unlawful killing. However, officially, no one has been convicted of her death and the Plunkett family still have no say in Shaw's parole. [ From the archive: State's longest-serving prisoner in fresh bid to secure temporary release Opens in new window ] His last parole bid was rejected. He is expected to apply again early next year. James McGuill, their solicitor, has called on the Garda to reopen the murder investigation with a view to securing a murder conviction against Shaw. The Garda has said its investigation concluded in 1976 and the matter is one for the DPP. The family have received legal advice that, in rare cases, it is possible to reopen a case after charges are dropped. One path being pursued by McGuill and the two sisters is gathering enough new evidence to allow prosecutors to reopen the case. They have had some success to date. After the inquest, and particularly after the start of the RTÉ series, multiple women have come forward to say they believe they were also targeted by Shaw and Evans during the men's 1976 crime spree. [ Eight women come forward with information on being targeted by 1976 killers of Elizabeth Plunkett Opens in new window ] This includes a woman who was knocked down by a car very close to where Elizabeth was abducted in Co Wicklow. These testimonies will be passed on to the Garda and DPP, McGuill said. Looking back, Kathleen says she can understand her father's desire to protect them from the trial and why he 'hid the newspapers behind the sideboard'. 'When anyone would it bring up, he'd say: 'Let Elizabeth Rest in peace', because he couldn't cope,' she said. Nevertheless, they are determined to keep up their campaign for Elizabeth's case to be reopened by authorities. 'They thought these two auld ones would just go away, said Bernadette. 'But no, sorry, not when you're fighting for your family.'
