RTE podcast series Stolen Sister explores murder of Elizabeth Plunkett

Irish Daily Mirror

a day ago

Elizabeth Plunkett was just 23 years of age when she was murdered by Ireland's first serial killers almost 50 years ago.
Career criminals John Shaw and Geoffrey Evans from Lancashire left the UK and travelled around Ireland in the summer of 1976 resolving to kill one woman a week.
They had only recently been released from prison when they abducted and brutally raped Elizabeth before murdering her.
They later told gardai their intention was to "kidnap, rape and kill one woman a week" for as long as they could get away with it.
Their killing spree ended with the murder of Elizabeth and cook Mary Duffy, 24, in Co Mayo.
They were both handed life sentences in February 1978.
Shockingly, despite Englishman Shaw confessing to the brutal killing of Elizabeth in August 1976 along with his now deceased partner-in-crime Geoffrey Evans, the pair were never actually convicted of her murder.
The DPP at the time decided only to prosecute them for another murder, of Mary Duffy.
Ms Plunkett, from Ringsend in Dublin, was raped, strangled and her body was tied to a lawnmower, before being rowed out to sea at Brittas Bay in Co Wicklow.
Her remains were found on Duncormick beach in Co Wexford four weeks later.
Now, for the first time Elizabeth's sisters Bernie and Kathleen are speaking out as they seek justice for Elizabeth, through RTÉ's latest podcast series, Stolen Sister, presented by Roz Purcell.
This is the first time that any of Elizabeth's family have spoken about her death publicly.
They're determined to get justice for her and restore some dignity to Elizabeth's memory.
"We had tried every avenue, everything," Bernie says on the podcast. "We appealed and appealed and appealed. We went to the DPP, they said no, the Garda Commissioner said no and we went to the State solicitor's office," said Bernie.
"This is our last resort, breaking our silence."
Stolen Sister begins with the story of Elizabeth and how she fell in love with her boyfriend Damien.
After spending a holiday together in France, the couple decided to meet friends for a night away in Brittas Bay, Co Wicklow on August 28, 1976.
When Elizabeth waved goodbye to her mother that afternoon, nobody knew that it would be the last time her family would see her.
The pals gathered in a pub in Brittas for drinks but a disagreement broke out and Elizabeth ended up leaving the pub.
Meanwhile, Shaw and Evans had left Fethard in Tipperary where they were laying low following their release from prison for robberies and had driven to Dublin to collect suitcases belonging to Evans.
They later decided to drive to Brittas to "break into some caravans."
But, their real intention, which they admitted to gardai was to "kidnap, rape and kill one woman a week" until they were caught - a garda interview recording of the pair revealed during the podcast.
They admitted to gardai they drove around "on the lookout" for women.
Later that night, as Elizabeth left the pub in Brittas alone, she was abducted and brutally raped and murdered by Shaw and Evans.
A month after Elizabeth was attacked her body washed up on a beach in Co Wexford.
Following a nationwide manhunt, her attackers were both arrested but not before they killed a second Irish woman, 23-year-old Mary Duffy.
The two murderers Shaw and Evans received life sentences in prison.
No one was ever convicted of the murder of Elizabeth Plunkett despite both men confessing to her murder.
Documentary maker Nicoline Greer said: "It's been an honour to be able to tell Elizabeth's story and for the Plunkett family to have trusted us to tell it. When Kathleen and Bernie first came to us, I never could have imagined how far this story would take us.
"Over the last year, I feel I have come to know Elizabeth and I hope that this series can go some way to restoring some justice and dignity to Elizabeth and the Plunkett family."
Following a verdict of unlawful killing in January at her inquest, Ms Plunkett's family called on the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to reopen the case and resubmit a file to the DPP.
On January 23, a jury of seven returned a verdict of unlawful killing in Ms Plunkett's case at an inquest at Gorey Courthouse in Co Wexford.
Following the verdict, her heartbroken family issued a statement through a solicitor stating they are grateful to the jury for "restoring some dignity to our precious Elizabeth".
Following the inquest two weeks ago, family solicitor James MacGuill read out a statement from the family calling on the DPP to prosecute Shaw for his part in her brutal killing.
Mr MacGuill said outside Gorey Court: "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."
They added: "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."
During the inquest hearing, Detective Inspector Murt Whelan from Wexford Garda Station told how during the course of their detention, Shaw and Evans admitted to being involved in the abduction, rape and murder of Elizabeth Plunkett.
Shaw, who with accomplice Evans became known as the State's first serial killers, has been behind bars since September 1976.
The twisted killer, who is likely to die in jail because of the severity of his crimes, met Evans in an English prison where they hatched their chilling plot to abduct, torture, rape and murder women.
Their killing spree ended with the murder of young clerk Elizabeth Plunkett, 23, in Co Wicklow and cook Mary Duffy, 24, in Co Mayo.
Evil Evans spent almost four years in a coma at a Dublin hospital before dying of sepsis in 2012.
The first episode of RTÉ Podcast Stolen Sister is available now on the RTÉ Radio Player and wherever you listen to your podcasts. Episodes will drop every Friday and will broadcast live on RTÉ Radio 1 at 6.30pm on Friday evenings. Anyone with information on Elizabeth's story should contact: [e-mail].
The soundtrack to Stolen Sister was composed by Academy Award winning composer Stephen Warbeck and was recorded by the RTÉ Concert Orchestra