Clodagh Hawe's sister wants more understanding from gardai of murder-suicides
The sister of murdered Clodagh Hawe is calling for gardaí to have better understanding of murder-suicides, after multiple things were missed in their first investigation.
In August 2016, vice-principal Alan Hawe killed himself, his wife Clodagh and their three sons Liam, 13, Niall, 11, and six-year-old Ryan at their home near Ballyjamesduff, Cavan.
Clodagh's sister Jacqueline Connolly has recently published a new book about the horrific murders, called Deadly Silence. Speaking to RTÉ's Brendan O'Connor Show on Saturday, Ms Connolly said multiple things were missed by gardaí in their first investigation.
She said: 'He was dead, what did it matter? The 'why' wasn't accounted for in that investigation, but it mattered to us.' Mistakes were highlighted in a second investigation carried out by the serious crime review team in 2019 by Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.
This included CCTV that was not examined, digital evidence that was overlooked, and 20 key witnesses who needed to be reinterviewed using different techniques. Ms Connolly is calling for the 2019 review to be made public, as it currently isn't, to provide greater awareness of the behaviours of 'family annihilators'.
She said: "I really feel that it would warn people and show people the signs, behaviours, patterns of what family annihilators look like.' Following the investigation, the heartbroken sister said she has been told gardaí in training will be advised to gather evidence in murder-suicies as though the case will be prosecuted.
Ms Connolly told of her 'complete shock' when she heard the news that her sister and three nieces had been murdered by her brother-in-law. The murderer was initially buried beside his family, as Ms Connolly explained there was 'chaos' and no one told them not to do this.
She said: 'The day after the funeral, myself and mam went to the grave, and I will never forget how mam looked that day. We stood there in silence, and I thought 'what have we done?' And as I thought it, she turned around and said 'what have we done? We've buried him with them'.'
She added: 'You can't align the two events, this man who you trusted for so long did such a terrible thing. You know something must have happened, but never in a million years would you think – especially considering the findings of the serious crime review – that so much planning went into what he did that night.'
If you or someone you know has been affected by the issues raised in this article please contact:Samaritans helpline 116 123Aware helpline 1800 80 48 48Pieta House on 1800 247 247
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