Latest news with #MaryMoriarty
The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Excavation to begin at Irish mother and baby home where 796 infants were buried in septic tank
The bodies of hundreds of infants who died in an Irish mother and baby home are to be recovered from a septic tank where they lay hidden in an unmarked grave for decades. It is hoped some of the remains will be identified before they are given a proper burial as excavation work starts at the mass grave for 796 babies. The painstaking process, expected to last two years, comes more than ten years after amateur historian Catherine Corless first uncovered the shocking secrets of St Mary's mother and baby home in Tuam, Co Galway. In 2014, she found there were no burial records for hundreds of infants and young children who died between 1925 and 1961 at the home for unmarried mothers run by the Bon Secours Sisters, a religious order of Catholic nuns. When she visited the site, now a housing estate, she learned how two boys had lifted a broken concrete slab near a children's playground in the 1970s and seen bones inside. Mary Moriarty, who lived in a house near the site, told the BBC before her death that she had gone to see what they found and 'fell in a hole'. Inside, she saw hundreds of "little bundles", wrapped in cloths that had gone black from rot and damp, and were "packed one after the other, in rows up to the ceiling". The authorities believed the remains were from Irish Famine in the 1840s, when the site was a workhouse where many people died, and the spot was covered back up. However, Ms Corless's suspicions about the missing dead children were officially confirmed in 2017 when an Irish government investigation found "significant quantities of human remains" in a test excavation of the site. The bones were not from the famine and were children aged from about 35 foetal weeks to two or three years. A baby had died at Tuam every two weeks on average. They were buried, without coffins, one on top of the other in the 9ft-deep chambers of the underground septic tank. On Monday, after a decade of tireless campaigning for the infants, digging will finally begin to give them a proper burial. 'There was no will to do anything for those babies except leave them there and put a monument over them,' Ms Corless said as families and survivors visited the site last week. 'But this was a sewer system and I couldn't give up on them. They were all baptised, they deserve to be in consecrated ground.' A major commission prompted by Ms Corless' work found that 9,000 children died in similar homes across Ireland in the 20th century. In 2021, Irish premier Micheal Martin apologised, saying: 'The most striking thing is the shame felt by women who became pregnant outside of marriage and the stigma that was so cruelly attached to their children. 'I apologise for the profound generational wrong visited upon Irish mothers and their children who ended up in a mother and baby home or a county home. As the commission says plainly, 'They should not have been there.'' The Bon Secours Sisters also offered a 'profound apology' after acknowledging the order had 'failed to protect the inherent dignity' of women and children in the Tuam home. Anna Corrigan, 68, who discovered that she had two older brothers who were born while her mother was a resident at the Tuam home, was among those to visit the site before excavation begins. 'These children were denied every human right in their lifetime, as were their mothers,' she said. 'They were denied dignity – and they were denied dignity and respect in death. 'So I'm hoping that today maybe will be the start of hearing them because I think they've been crying for an awful long time to be heard.' After researching her family history she found her mother gave birth to two sons at the home; John Desmond Dolan in February 1946, and William Joseph Dolan in May 1950. At his birth, John was recorded as weighing 8lb 9oz and healthy. When he died at just 14 months old, the cause of death was given as measles, with his notes also claiming he was a 'congenital idiot' and 'emaciated'. John is listed as one of the 796 babies uncovered by Ms Corless's research. William lacks even a death certificate — merely a note in the nun's files from the time which reads: 'Dead 3rd February 1951'. 'I just want truth or answers or closure, if they are in that pit at least I can tool on my mother's headstones, 'pre-deceased by her two sons John and William', it's truth, closure, finality, answers,' Ms Corrigan told The Sunday Times. PJ Haverty, 73, who was separated from his birth mother aged one and raised at the home until he was seven, described it as a 'prison'. He said those linked to the home were shunned and treated like 'dirt'. "We had to go 10 minutes late and leave 10 minutes early, because they didn't want us talking to the other kids," he recalled. "Even at break-time in the school, we weren't allowed to play with them – we were cordoned off. You were dirt from the street." The work at the burial site, which is being undertaken by the Office of the Director of Authorised Intervention Tuam (ODAIT), will involve exhumation, analysis, identification if possible and re-interment of the remains at the site. ODAIT leader Daniel MacSweeney said the excavation will work to international best practices when it came to forensic standards. The work will involve a long, complex process of recovering all the remains within the site and then separating the 'mixed up' skeletal specimens by sorting them by age and using processes to assess sex. It is hoped that identification of some of those buried can take place with the assistance of DNA provided by families as well as other records. The team will also attempt to establish cause of death where possible.
CBS News
16-06-2025
- CBS News
First-degree murder charges to be pursued against Vance Boelter, Hennepin County attorney says
Vance Boelter has been charged in the shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses. Boelter, 57, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder, according to the criminal complaint filed in Hennepin County Court on Saturday. He was taken into custody on Sunday night near his Sibley County home following a manhunt that lasted over 36 hours. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said during a press conference Monday morning the office intends to pursue first-degree murder charges against Boelter. The sentence, if he is convicted, is life without parole. Officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation will also hold a press conference at 11 a.m. to detail federal charges against Boelter. How to watch What: FBI officials detail federal charges against Vance Boelter FBI officials detail federal charges against Vance Boelter When: 11 a.m. on June 16, 2025 11 a.m. on June 16, 2025 How to watch: You can watch live in the player above, or on WCCO's YouTube channel. The second-degree murder charges — the highest level that can be filed via complaint — were brought forward late Saturday in order to obtain a nationwide arrest warrant, Moriarty said. "I want to assure our community and all those who are grieving that we will seek justice and accountability for the victims of these heinous crimes," Moriarty said. She added that the most senior prosecutors in her office would handle the case, which is still in its early stages. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty addresses the second-degree murder charges filed against Vance Boelter. WCCO "It is a frightening time we are living in. Political violence is prevalent. And the way we talk to and about each other has raised the temperature to unfathomable levels. We cannot continue on this way. In times of tragedy and also every day, as we navigate our daily lives, we need to find ways to support one another," Moriarty said. Superintendent Drew Evans with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension added that if officials learn that anyone else participated in the crimes or worked to aid Boelter in any way, prosecutors would look to bring charges against those individuals as well. Criminal complaint details Police officers responded to a shooting at a home in Champlin, Minnesota, around 2:05 a.m. on Saturday, according to charges. The 911 caller reported a masked person, later identified by officials as Boelter, had come to their door and then shot their parents. Responding officers found that state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife Yvette had been shot. Yvette Hoffman says her husband was shot nine times and she was shot eight times. Surveillance video outside the Hoffmans' home showed a Ford SUV with "police-style lights" parked in the driveway. Charges say Boelter, wearing a mask, blue shirt and police-style tactical vest with a badge and yellow-gripped gun, knocked on their door and announced himself as a police officer before entering the home and shooting John and Yvette Hoffman. Charges say the Brooklyn Park Police Department learned of the Champlin shooting and proactively sent patrol officers to the home of another state legislator, later identified as state Rep. Melissa Hortman. A memorial for Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband is set up outside the Capitol in St. Paul on June 15, 2025. WCCO Officers arrived at the house around 3:35 a.m. and saw Boelter shoot a man, later identified as Melissa Hortman's husband, Mark Hortman, through a doorway, the complaint said. Police exchanged gunfire with Boelter, who went inside the house and then escaped the area. Police found Melissa Hortman and Mark Hortman dead inside their home. Charges say officers searched the SUV and found at least three AK-47 assault rifles, a 9mm handgun and a list of names and addresses of other public officials. While searching the area, police found a ballistic vest, a disassembled 9mm handgun, a mask and a gold police-style badge. The criminal complaint says Boelter is the listed purchaser for at least four of the guns taken by police. A person familiar with Boelter identified him to police as the man in the surveillance video. Boelter is due in court for separate appearances on state and federal charges Monday afternoon.
The Independent
16-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Minnesota shooting suspect ‘stalked victim like prey' as feds reveal chilling details of killings and announce charges
The gunman accused of killing a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband and wounding a second lawmaker and his spouse will face federal charges. The Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota, Joe Thompson, said on Monday during a press conference that 'It is no exaggeration to say that his crimes are the stuff of nightmares.' 'In the early morning hours of June 14, Boelter went to the homes of four Minnesota state politicians with the intent to kill them,' he added. Thompson said Boelter 'stalked his victims like prey.' 'He went to their homes, held himself out as a police officer, and shot them in cold blood,' he added. Thompson said Boelter had the names of 45 Minnesota state and federal elected officials in notebooks in his car. The suspect also faces first-degree murder charges, the Hennepin County prosecutor, Mary Moriarty, said during a separate press conference on Monday. The charges carry a mandatory sentence of life without possibility of parole. The suspect, Vance Boelter, has already been charged with second-degree murder; however, first-degree charges include a grand jury indictment. Moriarty asked that people cease sharing 'misinformation and conspiracy theories' regarding the shooting. She added during the press conference that we're living in a 'frightening time' and that political violence is 'prevalent.' 'We cannot continue on this way,' added Moriarty. Hennepin County Sheriff Dawanna Witt told the assembled press corps that Boelter inflicted 'unimaginable' damage to the community. 'These violent acts strike at the very heart of our democracy,' said Witt. The suspect is alleged to have shot and killed the former statehouse Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. Boelter also faces allegations that he shot a second lawmaker and his spouse, who both survived the ordeal. State Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette are expected to make a full recovery, Witt noted. Officials didn't state whether Boelter has spoken about a possible motive. Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Superintendent Drew Evans noted that authorities would continue to collect information, regardless of whether Boelter chooses to cooperate. Evans added that there was no 'prolonged negotiation' needed during the apprehension of Boelter late on Sunday. The shooting prompted the largest manhunt in the history of the state. It came to an end on Sunday after SWAT teams used drones to track Boelter as he was crawling through shrubs in a rural area southwest of Minneapolis. Investigators found the suspect's car and hat in Sibley County, roughly an hour away from the shootings. A resident made the authorities aware after spotting the suspect on a trail camera. Boelter surrendered close to the town of Green Isle, where he had a home alongside his wife and children. He's now held at the Hennepin County Jail in Minneapolis.
Daily Mail
11-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
America's wokest DA spends $150k of taxpayer cash on PR FIRM after series of embarrassing scandals
Minnesota 's woke attorney is spending $150,000 of taxpayer money on a PR firm after a series of embarrassing scandals. Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty tapped the Wren Collective in a $150,000 deal which she says will be used to break down complex legal topics to the public. Moriarty has found herself engulfed in a series of recent scandals, including the Justice Department opening a civil rights investigation into her office after she allegedly ordered her staff to follow a policy that considered racial identity in cases. The DA also has also faced criticism for letting a state worker who keyed six Teslas off the hook and for allowing alleged child rapists to walk free. She prompted controversy by coming out against the Trump-approved Laken Riley Act, which requires law enforcement to work with federal agents to detain undocumented migrants arrested for certain crimes. The PR deal came to light after Moriarty requested an additional $60,000 a year from the Hennepin County Board for to pay the firm. The funds were approved on Tuesday. The publicity gurus brought in describes their goal as 'to reimagine the way our country approaches criminal justice' in a bid to combat 'the oppression of ... groups including women, trans people, migrants [and] the unhoused' on the firm's website. The company says it focuses on local and national issues to 'diagnose the problem' and use 'communications, research, and policy to change them.' The company says its lawyers have 'spent considerable time witnessing the dramatic failures of our legal system and learning about the ways society could have kept people healthy and communities safe, but failed to do so.' Jessica Brand, the PR firm's founder, told The Minnesota Star Tribune it was a 'smart policy' for Moriarty's office to use her brand to help craft messages for the public. The contract accounts for less than one percent of Moriarty's $84million budget. Sarah Davis, director of the Children and Families Division of the County Attorney's office, told The Star Tribune that the county attorney had recently negotiated a 50 percent discount from the firm. The goal of the partnership was to help communicate 'complex legal issues' to the general public, she said. 'The work that we do is very complex and spans a wide range of issues,' Davis told the board. 'Especially now, at a time when there are broad misinformation campaigns, it is really critical we have the ability to communicate this complex work in a way that can allow our community to engage with us.' Moriarty, who was elected in 2022, ran on a reform platform that was similar to the Wren Collective's messaging. It is not the first time Moriarty has enlisted third-party help inside her office. Last year her office spent $578,000 to hire Steptoe LLP, a Washington DC-based law firm, to take over the murder investigation of a state trooper. Moriarty hired the firm after the lead prosecutor on the case stepped aside. Moriarty also faces a growing tension about public messages between her and the police on public safety. The Hennepin County Chiefs of Police hired a PR firm last year to refute the anti-law enforcement narratives they claimed the county attorney's office was instituting. The Minnesota Police and Peace Office Association has also criticized the woke county attorney. The organization spent $350,000 in the last three years to promote its work, The Star Tribune reported. Brian Peters, executive director of the association, criticized Moriarty for hiring the Wren Collective as he said she should be focusing on her job, not fixing her office's public image. 'She's spending public funds to protect her reputation,' he told The Star Tribune. Sources told the local outlet that it is not common for the attorney's office to fire a PR firm. The Daily Mail has reached out to Moriarty for comment. She had previously said the hiring of PR specialists was justified because attacks from anti-reform prosecutors undermine the work of her office.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Liberal newspaper slams woke DA in scathing op-ed
A prosecutor condemned as America's wokest over her tough-on-cops, soft-on-criminals decisions has now been condemned by her liberal local newspaper. Mary Moriarty, the Hennepin County Attorney who oversees crimes in Minneapolis, was lashed in a new op-ed published by The Minnesota Star Tribune calling her 'an embarrassment to Minnesota.' Journalist Andy Brehm added: 'Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty is eclipsing even the self-aggrandizing Gov. Tim Walz in the hefty amount of national coverage she's getting these days. And it's not making Minnesota look very good.' Brehm said it was 'hard to believe' that Moriarty was still using an 'equity-focused' charging policy that considers the race of suspects before deciding to how to proceed. Brehm was outraged that Moriarty, a progressive Democrat , has decided to adjudicate the law using 'dermatology' rather than 'impartiality'. Moriarty's alleged racist antics have made her office the target of a Department of Justice probe. And while Brehm says he thinks some of the Trump's moves against wokeness have been vengeful, he is fully supportive of the DoJ decision to come after Moriarty. Also highlighted was Moriarty's decision to let a woke serial Tesla vandal off with keying six cars and causing $21,000 of damage, while pursing murder charges against a cop who lawfully killed a suspect. Last month, Moriarty dropped charges against Tesla vandal Dylan Bryan Adams and instead let him enter a diversion program, which may let him keep his job working for Democrat Governor Tim Walz. She broke her own rules with Adams, as Hennepin County Attorney's Office says diversion programs are only suitable for property criminals who've caused less than $5,000 of damage. A woman who keyed a single car was charged with a felony by Moriarty around the same time, with locals accusing her of tacitly-supporting attacks on Tesla cars because owner Elon Musk is a huge figure in the MAGA movement. 'Apparently, if crime is committed in the name of the right left-wing cause in Hennepin County, it need not be punished as harshly,' Brehm wrote. And the progressive prosecutor certainly wasn't in the mood to display the grace she showed with Tesla vandal Adams in the case of state trooper Ryan Londregan. She tried to charge him with murder and manslaughter for shooting dead Ricky Cobb II, a black man killed in July 2023 after he tried to drag Londregan's partner away during a traffic stop. But it has printed a series of scathing pieces on Moriarty in recent weeks as her behavior turned the city of Minneapolis into an American laughing stock. Minneapolis was rocked by the murder of George Floyd, a black man, by white police officer Derek Chauvin in May 2020. Floyd's killing turbocharged the Black Lives Matter movement and saw huge swathes of Minneapolis destroyed by nights of rioting and firebombing. The Democrat-leaning city swung hard left in the wake of Floyd's killing and at one point was even on track to completely dismantle its police force. But soaring violent crime, a fading economy and an increased reputation for anarchy and chaos has seen the city's more extreme progressive decisions criticized in recent months. Moriarty won election in November 2022 and has not said whether she will run for re-election in 2026. But Brehms and others have called for Minneapolis locals to follow the example of other cities like San Francisco and Oakland by booting her out of office should she run again.
