Plunkett family appeal for public to contact gardaí over 1976 murder
Kathleen Nolan said she and her sister Bernie Plunkett feel validated that they contacted the team at RTÉ Documentary On One to collaborate on the Stolen Sister podcast and are happy with this next step.
John Shaw and Geoffrey Evans confessed to abducting, raping and murdering both Elizabeth Plunkett in Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow, and Mary Duffy in Conamara, Co Galway, in 1976.
Originally, both men were charged with murder, rape and false imprisonment of Elizabeth Plunkett and Mary Duffy.
However, when Shaw began a parole application in 2023, it was revealed he had never been convicted for Elizabeth Plunkett's murder despite previous reports.
It was also revealed to the Plunkett family that the State never held an inquest into the death of Ms Plunkett, nor ever issued a death certificate in her name. The collaboration between the family and the Stolen Sister podcast led to an inquest being held into Elizabeth Plunkett's death earlier this year.
In a statement, gardaí said: "Any person who believes they have new information into the death of Elizabeth Plunkett should make that information known/ available to An Garda Síochána in Wexford/ Wicklow Garda Division."
It added that any new information which is brought to the attention of An Garda Síochána will be assessed.
In late May, the Plunkett family's solicitor, James MacGuill SC, wrote to the DPP, the Garda Commissioner and the Minister for Justice requesting a cold case review into Elizabeth Plunkett's death and a renewed public appeal for evidence.
An Garda Síochána has not commenced any new investigation or cold case review into the murder of Ms Plunkett.
Ms Nolan explained that it was an area they knew nothing about at the beginning, and that they had had to pick through everything a thousand times to understand why the case was left the way it was.
Speaking on RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne she said they were grateful to their legal team, and that the research conducted by Documentary On One has been "fabulous".
"We have been putting together a timeline of everything that happened, and now we just need to know why these decisions were made.
"With people able to use the guards in Wicklow and Wexford, the Doc On One and the legal team, that's three places that if anyone wants to get in contact. It opens it up another little bit.
"Hopefully, the more leads we get, the better."
She said that the process has been chilling and shocking, and that she and her sister had never considered that there would be anyone else affected by this.
Bonus episode detailing case progress
Today, they are launching a petition on the website change.org called: "Justice for Elizabeth Plunkett", and they encouraged people to sign it.
Ms Nolan said it is another way of presenting the case to the parole board, the Government, An Garda Síochána, the DPP and the Minister for Justice.
"We want to let everyone see what happened, and they can be part of the change and really help us."
Speaking about taking part in the podcast, she said that she and her sister felt a responsibility to Elizabeth and everyone out there, and it was a hard thing to do, but the support since has been amazing.
"After we relived what we had gone through that we had buried, it just became completely unacceptable.
"Irish life has changed so much over time. What might have been acceptable in the 1970s is definitely not acceptable now, and that's why we decided to approach the Doc On One team".
She said that she was grateful to their relations, colleagues, friends, and neighbours in Ringsend, Dublin.
She added that their children and grandchildren were nervous for them, but very proud of them at the same time.
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