Detective by Tom Connolly

Author:Tom Connolly [Tom Connolly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781847178015
Publisher: The O'Brien Press
Published: 2015-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

MURDER OF MICHAEL CASEY, DRIMOLEAGUE, 1981

In November 1981, I was Detective Sergeant in the Investigation Section at Crime Branch. I became involved in the investigation of a murder in the Skibbereen– Drimoleague area of West Cork, an area well known to me. This case clearly illustrates the lack of respect some people have for human life. Two men considered the success of an intended robbery more important than the life of a man they decided to rob.

Drimoleague is on the road from Dunmanway to Bantry, about an equal distance from Bantry or Skibbereen, and that would be about eight miles. A local farmer who resided alone had been found dead in his home, on Wednesday, 18 November 1981. A post mortem established that he had been asphyxiated. Assistance in the investigation of the crime was sought by Superintendent Farrelly of Bantry. That is how I became involved, along with other members from the Investigation Section.

The previous Sunday night, 15 November, two men were drinking in a pub in Skibbereen. These two men both had convictions in Skibbereen, including breaking into a sports club, stealing alcohol and a few other bits and pieces. They were known to the Gardaí. They were low on funds to support their drinking habits, and they considered their options for where they could get some money. Working was clearly not one of their preferred options. They decided to go to the home of a farmer known to one of them, six miles or so outside of Skibbereen. They decided in the pub that they would have to kill him before they robbed him, because he would know one of them. The possibility of wearing gloves, and perhaps putting some sort of material over their heads to prevent identification, was not considered. They just decided to kill him.

Michael Casey, a bachelor of about sixty-eight, lived alone in a farmhouse in an isolated part of Tooreen, Skibbereen. Michael’s house was situated at the end of a laneway, inside a gateway with two big stone pillars.

On 18 November, Sergeant Brendan Conway was contacted by a neighbour of Michael Casey’s. The neighbour said he had not seen Casey for a number of days, and the electric light was continuously on in his house. Sergeant Conway went to Michael Casey’s house, and got no response to repeated knocking at the door. There was a window open in one of the upstairs rooms, so the Sergeant got a ladder, and climbed up and in through the window. He searched around, and found Michael lying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. He was dead, and appeared to have been dead for quite some time.

The Sergeant had a look around. Downstairs there were broken bottles, a broken vase and an upturned chair, and papers and books were scattered around the floor. Not far from the body was a broken belt. Sergeant Conway notified a priest and a doctor, and the scene was preserved. The priest arrived and administered the last rites to Michael Casey.

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