GUILTY Bobby Ryan, 52, murdered & found in tank, Ireland, 3 June 2011

[HayLouise]

Tipperary Murder Trial: Pathologist told gardaí that Bobby 'Mr Moonlight' Ryan suffered 'multiple injuries'

Tipperary's Bobby 'Mr Moonlight' Ryan suffered multiple injuries that could have been caused by an accident, traffic collision or serious assault, a pathologist told gardaí investigating the DJ's death.

On Friday, Superintendent Patrick O'Callaghan told the Central Criminal Court trial of Patrick Quirke that he was present when former deputy state pathologist Dr Khalid Jaber carried out a post mortem on the body shortly after it was discovered in a disused waste water tank in 2013. Supt O'Callaghan told defence counsel Lorcan Staines SC that he took notes as Dr Jaber spoke. Reading from his notes, he said Dr Jaber identified "multiple injuries" which "could be the result of accident/traffic collision or serious assault."

The witness is giving evidence in the trial of Mr Quirke (50) of Breanshamore, County Tipperary, who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan, a part-time DJ going by the name Mr Moonlight. Mr Ryan went missing on June 3, 2011 after leaving his girlfriend Mary Lowry's home at about 6.30am and his body was found in an underground run-off tank on the farm owned by Ms Lowry and leased by the accused at Fawnagown, County Tipperary, in April 2013. The prosecution claims that Mr Quirke murdered Mr Ryan so he could rekindle an affair with Ms Lowry (52).

Supt O'Callaghan agreed with Mr Staines that as a result of what he heard during the post mortem, he and other gardaí would have been aware of the need to take note of any vehicles on the farm.

Tipperary Murder Trial: Pathologist told gardaí that Bobby 'Mr Moonlight' Ryan suffered 'multiple injuries'

 

[HayLouise]

Victim - Bobby Ryan:



Mary lowry (girlfriend of BR):



Accused - Patrick Quirke (Pleaded not guilty):



Evidence of blood stains found in Mary Lowry's home, court hears

 

[HayLouise]

COP EVIDENCE

Garda investigating Bobby Ryan murder found evidence of blood stains in sitting room and bedroom of girlfriend Mary Lowry’s home, court hears


Retired detective John Grant was giving evidence in the trial of Patrick Quirke, 50, of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary who has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bobby Ryan

GARDAI investigating the murder of DJ Bobby Ryan found evidence of blood stains in the sitting room and bedroom of his girlfriend Mary Lowry's home, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Retired detective John Grant said the stains were sent away to be analyzed by the forensic laboratories.

The prosecution claims that Mr Quirke murdered Mr Ryan so he could rekindle an affair with Ms Lowry, 52.

Mr Grant told David Humphries BL for the prosecution that Ms Lowry's home consisted of three en-suite bedrooms, a living room, a large kitchen and an extension where Ms Lowry's mother-in-law lived.

Evidence of blood stains found in Mary Lowry's home, court hears

 

[HayLouise]

On May 3, 2013 Gardai used forensic equipment to identify areas of blood not visible to the naked eye.

In the sitting room they found evidence of blood on a light fitting and on the ceiling. They took the light fitting away for further testing.


In the bedroom they found positive reactions to the blood testing equipment on the bed frame, mattress and floor.

The following day gardai returned and found "directional blood spots" on the inside of a wardrobe.

Gardai swabbed panels of the wardrobe and removed the doors for further testing. The results of tests carried out by the forensic laboratories have not yet been given in evidence.

Evidence of blood stains found in Mary Lowry's home, court hears

 

[HayLouise]

Gardai also searched eight out-buildings on the farm and a Toyota Corolla car but found nothing.

Tests carried out on the accused man's vehicle also showed no positive results.

Mr Grant said he was present when Dr Khalid Jaber carried out a post mortem on Mr Ryan's "badly decomposed body".

The former Deputy State Pathologist told him that Mr Ryan's injuries would have caused death within minutes and therefore he believed he was dead when he went into the tank.

He noted that the deceased had suffered multiple blunt force trauma injuries, primarily to the face and the side of the head with further injuries to the ribs and one leg.

Under cross examination Mr Grant told defence counsel Lorcan Staines SC that he was there when a concrete lid covering the tank was removed by a JCB.

He said his main concern was that nothing should happen to the body and he was watching closely when the slab broke, releasing dust and small pieces of concrete into the tank.

The witness said no damage was done to the body and he therefore did not make a note of it and didn't include the incident in his statement.

He said he doesn't remember if Dr Jaber, who did not attend the scene, knew about the broken slab but he said the pathologist had access to photographs taken by a garda photographer.

Evidence of blood stains found in Mary Lowry's home, court hears

 

[HayLouise]

Those photographs, he said, showed the slab breaking and it would be normal procedure for a pathologist to look at all photographs when they have not attended the scene.

The witness was also pressed on why Dr Jaber did not attend the scene. He said that pathologists decide which scenes to attend and it was his decision.

The trial continues tomorrow in front of Justice Eileen Creedon and a jury of six men and six women.

Evidence of blood stains found in Mary Lowry's home, court hears

 

[HayLouise]

5 March 2019:

Love triangle trial: Accused told farm hand of rumour that Polish people murdered Bobby Ryan

Murder accused Pat Quirke told one of his farm hands he heard a rumour that Polish people were involved in the murder of DJ Bobby "Mr Moonlight" Ryan, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

The witness couldn't recall what his response was but said that Mr Quirke then told him he had heard a rumour it was a "Polish group". Under cross-examination, the witness told defence counsel Bernard Condon SC there was a rumour going around that Polish people were involved in the murder of Bobby Ryan. The witness further told Mr Humphries during reexamination that he couldn't recall if he heard that rumour from anyone other than the accused.

Gary Cunningham told David Humphries BL for the prosecution that he was studying agricultural science in 2013 and did his work experience on Mr Quirke's farms, starting in February of that year. Following the discovery of Mr Ryan's body in a tank on land leased by the accused the witness had one quick conversation with Mr Quirke in which the accused asked him if he had heard any rumours about what happened.

The witness couldn't recall what his response was but said that Mr Quirke then told him he had heard a rumour it was a "Polish group". Under cross-examination, the witness told defence counsel Bernard Condon SC there was a rumour going around that Polish people were involved in the murder of Bobby Ryan. The witness further told Mr Humphries during reexamination that he couldn't recall if he heard that rumour from anyone other than the accused.

Love triangle trial: Accused told farm hand of rumour that Polish people murdered Bobby Ryan

 

[HayLouise]

Mr Cunningham also told Mr Humphries that he did not know of the existence of the tank where Mr Ryan's body was found and never spoke to Mr Quirke about it.

Emmett Kenny told Mr Humphries that he started working on Mr Quirke's farm in 2009. He worked there during the calving season from February to April doing general farm work, feeding, milking and looking after the cattle. Mr Quirke owned a farm at Breanshamore where he had a milking parlour and leased the farm at Fawnagowan where he also kept cattle.

This witness knew of the tank where Mr Ryan's body was found because he would be doing jobs around that area. He thought it was an old septic tank and said there was a ditch beside it that cattle would shelter in during bad weather. Cattle would walk on top of the tank but they had no effect on the concrete slabs covering it, he said.

Mr Kenny said he never fenced off the tank.

Love triangle trial: Accused told farm hand of rumour that Polish people murdered Bobby Ryan

 

[HayLouise]

Mr Humphries then turned to Mary Lowry and the witness said he saw her maybe 20 times over the years and talked to her on occasion. He saw Mr Quirke together with her once or twice and they appeared to get on fine, he said. He recalled Mr Quirke telling him that Mary Lowry has a good farm, but they never discussed her apart from that.

On the bank holiday weekend when Mr Ryan went missing the witness recalled that Pat Quirke went away on the Friday. He said Mr Quirke had told him about two weeks earlier that he would be going away for the bank holiday and asked if Mr Kenny be available to work on the farm. The witness arrived that Friday at about 5.30pm to milk the cows and noticed two bulls in a field about 60 or 70 yards from the cows.

Love triangle trial: Accused told farm hand of rumour that Polish people murdered Bobby Ryan

 

[HayLouise]

The day after the discovery of Mr Ryan's body Mr Kenny met the accused in the milking parlour at Breanshamore. Mr Quirke asked: "Did you hear?" and the witness replied: "I did yes." That was all he said.

In October 2018 Mr Kenny went to Fawnagowan with gardai and pointed out to them a septic tank in a field in front of Ms Lowry's house which Mr Kenny erected a fence around when he started working for Mr Quirke in 2009. He put up this fence, he said, because it was his understanding that a heifer had suffered an injury to her leg when it got caught between gaps in the concrete. He accepted under cross examination that he was not there when the heifer was injured and that "It's quite possible" he was wrong in thinking the heifer was injured at that tank. He added that he always thought the tank where Mr Ryan's body was found was an old septic tank.

The witness further told Mr Condon that on October 26, 2013 he pointed out to gardaí an area beside the underground tank where Mr Ryan's body was found where bales of silage would have been stacked in June 2011 when Mr Ryan went missing. A garda photographed the area but Mr Kenny was not shown the photograph.

The trial continues in front of Justice Eileen Creedon and a jury of six men and six women.

Love triangle trial: Accused told farm hand of rumour that Polish people murdered Bobby Ryan

 

[HayLouise]

6 Feb 2019:

Witness in 'love-rival' trial says murder victim Bobby Ryan was 'red-faced and sweating' on day he disappeared

A witness who may have been one of the last to see Bobby Ryan alive said he was “sweating” on the morning he vanished.

The prosecution claims he killed Mr Ryan so he could get back with the victim’s girlfriend, Mary Lowry, with whom he had previously had an affair.

Yesterday the Central Criminal Court heard Siobhan Kinnane told gardai she was “80% sure” a man she saw walking along a country road was the deceased.

The witness said she lives at Cordangan, a townland close to the farm where Mr Ryan’s body was found two years after his disappearance.

Ms Kinnane claimed she was driving her kids to school at about 8.50am on June 3, 2011, when she saw a man walking by the side of the road.

He was bald and wearing a navy or dark tracksuit. He didn’t make eye contact which she found peculiar.

She added the tracksuit may have had a white stripe and he may have been carrying a bag over his shoulder.

Mrs Lowry had previously given evidence Mr Ryan left her home at about 6.30am on June 3.

Under cross-examination, Ms Kinnane agreed that in a statement made to gardai at the time she described the man as “sweating and red-faced”.

When officers showed her a photo of the deceased she said the person she had seen didn’t look “athletically built” but neither was he “extremely fat” like the man in the image.

However, she was “80% sure” a different photo she saw of the missing dad on the RTE website was the person she had spotted.

Witness claims murder victim was 'red-faced and sweating' on day he disappeared

 

[HayLouise]

The trial also heard yesterday from the woman who told gardai about Quirke’s affair with 52-year-old Mrs Lowry.

Catherine Costello of Searching For The Missing said she got involved in efforts to find Mr Ryan after becoming aware his family was “desperately seeking help”. It had been suggested he had committed suicide.

She said she spoke to Mrs Lowry who was polite but upset, dabbing her eyes with a tissue. She later got a call from the widow and they arranged to meet at a petrol station near the woods where Mr Ryan’s DJ van had been found.

Ms Costello said Mrs Lowry was “severely distressed and hysterical” as she told her about the affair with her brother-in-law Quirke.

She suggested she go to gardai but the following day, Ms Costello herself contacted officers.

Witness claims murder victim was 'red-faced and sweating' on day he disappeared

 

[HayLouise]

Meanwhile, Jim Cully told the court he gave a statement to gardai two days after Mr Ryan went missing.

The bus driver said he was “almost certain” he saw the deceased’s van driving towards Dundrum Village from the direction of Annacarty at about 8.40am on June 3, 2011. Other witnesses said they saw a similar van at the car park leading to Kilshane Woods, where it was found that afternoon by Mr Ryan’s daughter Michelle.

Witness claims murder victim was 'red-faced and sweating' on day he disappeared

 

[HayLouise]

Eddie Hogg told how he walks his dogs through the woods every day at around 8.15am and that morning, he noticed a maroon-coloured car and a white or silver van in the car park. He was shown a photograph of Mr Ryan’s vehicle and said it was similar.

Michelle Lovelock said she arrived in the area to walk her dogs at about 8.10am and noticed a van that “bears resemblance” to Mr Ryan’s. When she returned to the car park following her walk at about 8.50am, it was gone.

Courier Joe McLoughlin said he was passing the woods between 7.45am and 8am when he saw a van in the car park. On its visor, he could make out the word “Moonlight”.

He added he was passing the junction of Cordangan and Bansha Road one week later when he saw a “young lad” who seemed “uneasy and anxious” looking into a bag.

The trial continues.

Witness claims murder victim was 'red-faced and sweating' on day he disappeared

 

[HayLouise]

28 Feb 2019:

Accused says he instinctively knew body was Bobby Ryan

Murder accused Patrick Quirke told gardaí he instinctively knew the body he found in an underground tank was that of missing man Bobby Ryan.

The jury has been hearing transcripts of voluntary interviews he gave to gardaí in May 2013 in which he said his only crime was having an affair with Mary Lowry.

Mr Quirke, a 50-year-old from Breanshamore, Co Tipperary, is accused of murdering Mr Ryan, a part-time DJ known as Mr Moonlight.

Mr Quirke has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Ryan at an unknown location on a date between 3 June 2011 and 30 April 2013.

Mr Ryan's body was discovered by Mr Quirke on a farm at Fawnagowan, Tipperary.

When asked to describe in detail what he had seen in the tank, he said every time he closed his eyes he could see it.

He described pulling back a flag stone to see skeletal remains with no sign of clothing.

Accused says he instinctively knew body was Bobby Ryan

 

[HayLouise]

Asked why he phoned his wife instead of gardaí, Mr Quirke said he did not think of anything logical, he just wanted to ring his wife, he was in shock.

When it was suggested that some men might not want their wife to see such a thing he said that had crossed his mind when he saw her look in to the tank, but he knew his wife would know what to do in a crisis.

"This is what I did, you can pick holes in it if you like, I needed her," he said.

Asked why it was a crisis, he said he considered it to be a crisis because his first instinct was that it was Mr Ryan.

Asked why he did not alert Ms Lowry, he said he had deliberately avoided meeting her because he was afraid of what he might say.

"I was concerned the body was naked. My first instinct was he didn't walk out of that house, I was afraid for myself."

He said someone had suggested that it was "standard" to remove the clothing to get rid of forensics and that someone professional would remove the clothing from a body.

Gardaí asked how someone who was not thinking straight could come up with that theory. He replied it was "just instinct".

Accused says he instinctively knew body was Bobby Ryan

 

[HayLouise]

Asked why he was afraid of Ms Lowry he said "she is vicious, she had abused me the night before".

Asked why he had an instinct it was Mr Ryan he replied "Sure who else would it be. I didn't believe he went to Spain to start a new life. I always thought something sinister had happened. I knew he didn't commit suicide or go roaming around the woods so no one could find him, I knew he didn't hitch a lift to Rosslare."

Asked why he did not believe it was suicide, he replied: "Because they did not find the body. People who commit suicide want to be found."

He also told gardaí his name had been destroyed in the town he had lived in for years, but said his only crime was having an affair with Ms Lowry and he had to clear his name.

Mr Quirke had earlier explained to gardaí how he had taken his tractor and a slurry vacuum tanker to the farm at Fawnagowan with the intention of emptying one of the slurry tanks.

He believed the run off tank from the old milking parlour would contain water because of an earlier leak in the milking parlour.

He intended to use the water from the run off tank to mix with the slurry before spreading it.

He said he usually got a contractor to do this, but had decided to do the job himself because he had vehicles on loan with the intention of buying them.

The owner of the vehicles later phoned him asking for a cheque when he had seen them on the news.

Accused says he instinctively knew body was Bobby Ryan

 

[HayLouise]

He said he had never taken water from that tank before but had expected it to be two-thirds or half full.

When he placed the pipe into the tank he was disappointed there was so little water but proceeded to take what was in it.

He believed the suction pipe had stuck to the bottom of it and when he removed the lid partially he discovered the body, he said.

Earlier in the interview, he had been asked by gardaí to outline his movements on the day Bobby Ryan disappeared.

He said he had gone to the farm at Fawnagowan to collect some bulls and bring them to his own house.

A young farm worker had come to work with him by chance that morning, allowing him to leave to collect the bulls before his own cows had finished milking.

Accused says he instinctively knew body was Bobby Ryan

 

[HayLouise]

In another interview Pat Quirke told gardaí he had discussed having a future with Mary Lowry but not too seriously because it was not practical.

In December 2010 he found out she was seeing Bobby Ryan and had been lying to him. He said he took her phone and texted Bobby Ryan to tell him Mary Lowry had not been honest with him and that she had been seeing him for the past three years.

"He rang back and I said sorry but I'm the man, that is all I said I hung up."

He said he was angry and Mary Lowry was angry and blamed him for ruining her relationship with Bobby Ryan.

Later it appeared Mary Lowry had fixed the relationship and she was happy.

Mr Quirke told gardaí: "I was angry because she was happy and she didn't care if I was happy or sad."

The following January he met Bobby Ryan at Mr Ryan's request and used the meeting to apologise to him for the shock he caused with the phone call.

"I was happy enough because he didn't see me as a person who had it in for him." He said there weren’t heated words or exchanges and they shook hands. He wished them well.

After that he said it "all started to hit" and he realised he had never grieved for his best friend, Martin Lowry, who was Mary Lowry's late husband.

He was referred for counselling.

Accused says he instinctively knew body was Bobby Ryan

 

[HayLouise]

He tried to keep things harmonious with Mary Lowry because of family connections and arranged to go to see Brendan Grace with his wife, Mary Lowry and Bobby Ryan.

After Bobby Ryan went missing he did not discuss it much with Mary Lowry because she was "indifferent to it". He and Mary Lowry did not resume their relationship but were physically intimate four times after Mr Ryan disappeared.

He said he was not angry that his affair with Mary Lowry had ended but was angry at the way he was treated. He was never going to leave his wife and Mary Lowry had never asked him to.

He said he had never threatened Bobby Ryan in any way and he challenged anyone to provide evidence that he had.

He said: "I did not kill Bobby Ryan. There is someone out there who did and he is laughing at the moment because you are looking at me."

Accused says he instinctively knew body was Bobby Ryan