Charlotte Murray: 'Not having my sister's body prolongs grief'
"Every morning you wake up wondering will today be the day that we find her body?"This is a thought that Sinead Corrigan has been living with for more than 12 years.Her sister Charlotte Murray went missing in 2012 and her body has never been found.In 2019 her former partner Johnny Miller was convicted of her murder.In a rare interview Charlotte's sister, Sinead, has been speaking to BBC News NI.It comes as her family continues to campaign for a change in the law in murder cases where killers conceal the location of victims' bodies.
The legislation - dubbed Charlotte's Law - has already been out for public consultation and there are plans to introduce it to the Northern Ireland Assembly within the next year.The proposed law outlines a series of measures that it is hoped could encourage killers to volunteer information about where victims' remains are.This includes potential reduced sentences for those who disclose the location of a victims' remains and longer prisoner sentences for those who do not.
Charlotte's story
Charlotte Murray was originally from Omagh in County Tyrone.But for the final years of her life she had been living in the village of Moy with her partner at the time, Johnny Miller.He is currently serving a life sentence for her murder with a 16-year tariff imposed in 2020.Charlotte's sister told BBC News NI that not knowing where her sister's body is continues to have a profound impact on her family."Charlotte was a strong woman, I would say she was definitely free spirited and she was a kind person," she said."We're a big family, Charlotte was one of 11 children, it's had a huge impact on every single one of us, it has taken it's toll on everybody, it's hard to move forward when we don't even have a grave to visit."
Charlotte was last seen alive in October 2012 and her family have been trying to find her ever since.There have been a number of high-profile searches for her body.Ms Corrigan said the idea for Charlotte's Law came about after her family found out about legislation in England and Wales that followed the disappearance of 22-year-old Helen McCourt in Merseyside in 1988.Her killer Ian Simms was freed from jail without disclosing the location of her remains.But now Helen's Law places a statutory obligation on the parole board to take into account an offender's non-disclosure of certain information when making a decision about their release from prison.
Ms Corrigan added: "On the one hand you don't want to give the people that have hurt your loved one anything, we knew that we needed to have an incentive for offenders in some cases."But really it's about giving the victims and their families what they need, because not knowing where you loved one is, that is something I wouldn't even wish on my worst enemy."
'Heinous crime'
Charlotte's family also hope any new legislation could help lead to the location of her body and are building in proposals that could be applied retrospectively to cases that have already been through the courts.Justice Minister Naomi Long said the aim is that Charlotte's Law will build upon the work of Helen's Law and help bereaved families in Northern Ireland.Speaking to BBC News NI, Ms Long said: "We know that not having a body to bury can really impact on the mental health of a family and on their ability to grieve properly."It's something we discussed at length with bereaved families because things like reductions of tariffs of those convicted of such heinous crimes is always an extremely sensitive issue."The Justice Minister added: "With Charlotte's law we wanted to bring forward incentives at each stage, from arrest to sentencing and with that there will be a sliding scale in terms of the impact it would have on tariffs, depending on how early the information is released."
"Even when they're in prison, they may have had time to think about the enormity of their situation and suddenly they have second thoughts, and they might give up that information and that could entitle them to a slight reduction in their tariff," Long added.Charlotte Murray's family have also worked closely on the campaign with relatives of Lisa Dorrian, who disappeared in 2005.Her body has also never been found.Last month on the 20th anniversary of her disappearance, for the first time police released CCTV footage which was filmed just days before Ms Dorrian's disappearance.
Sinead Corrigan said it's her hope that other families will not have to endure the same experience."It's been a long road and we've been blown away by the support from politicians and families like the Dorrians to help us raise the profile of this issue," she said.She added: "Obviously you don't want any family to be in the situation of losing a loved one to murder, but if that awful thing does happen, we hope Charlotte's Law will help in the journey to bring their loved ones home."Charlotte's Law is to be included as part of the Sentencing Bill, and is expected to have reached Stormont committee stage next year, before coming law.
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