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

[HayLouise]

28 Feb. 2019

TIPP TRIAL

Murder accused Patrick Quirke told gardai he was afraid of ‘vicious and verbally abusive’ ex Mary Lowry as court hears he ‘instinctively’ knew body was Bobby Ryan

The Tipperary farmer added that his only crime was having an affair with Ms Lowry and now his name is 'mud' in the town where he grew up

MURDER accused Patrick Quirke told gardai he was afraid of Mary Lowry and described his ex-lover as "vicious" and "verbally abusive", the Central Criminal Court has heard.

The farmer added that his only crime was having an affair with Ms Lowry and now his name is "mud" in the town where he grew up.

Murder accused Patrick Quirke told cops he was afraid of 'vicious' ex Mary Lowry

 

[HayLouise]

28 Feb 2019:

Detailing events leading up to the discovery of the body, the accused told gardai he tried to agitate slurry in a tank under one of the sheds on the farm at Fawnagowan where he kept dry cattle.

When he tried to agitate it he found it was too thick and required more water. Normally he would draw water from an open tank on the farm but he knew that was empty as he had already been using it.

He thought there was water in the tank by the old milking parlour because a leak in the mains some weeks earlier had spilled water into it for two days. So he went over with a suction tanker and used a shovel to prise open one of the two concrete slabs covering one end of the tank.


When he looked inside he was disappointed at the amount of water he saw but he pushed the hose from the vacuum tanker into it to draw what water he could. The last time he had looked into the tank, he said, was in 2008 when a calf got its leg stuck between the concrete covers. Following that he closed the slabs together and put up fencing around it.

As the machine sucked he thought the hose was stuck to the ground so he moved the tractor a few feet back. When he looked into the tank again he saw what he thought was a carpet or a piece of plastic.

He moved the second cover to get a better look and knew he was looking at a body. He said he sees the body every time he closes his eyes and described seeing what seemed like a naked body face down.

He could see the ribs, pelvic area and what he thought was the private area. He "instinctively knew" it was Bobby Ryan's body.

Murder accused Patrick Quirke told cops he was afraid of 'vicious' ex Mary Lowry

 

[HayLouise]

28 Feb 2019:

Gardai asked him why he instinctively thought the body was that of Bobby Ryan and he replied: "Who else would it be?" He said he didn't believe Mr Ryan had gone to Spain to start a new life and always thought something sinister had happened.

Mr Quirke said he is curious by nature and couldn't go with the flow or accept what other people were saying. He didn't believe Mr Ryan committed suicide or hitched a lift to Rosslare and took a ferry to France. "People who commit suicide want to be found," he told gardai.

When gardai asked him about his relationship with Bobby Ryan he said he didn't know him well enough to like him. They had nothing in common and so probably weren't going to be friends. While he wasn't happy with how his relationship with Mary Lowry ended, her being with Mr Ryan didn't bother him.

He further stated that following the affair his reputation was "mud". He had spent his life in Tipperary and now his name was "destroyed".

"I had an affair with this woman but this is my only crime," he said, adding: "I hate to say that I need to clear my name but my name is mud."

At the end of the interview he said prior to Mr Ryan's body being found he had nothing to support his theory that something sinister had happened other than that the alternatives didn't add up.

Murder accused Patrick Quirke told cops he was afraid of 'vicious' ex Mary Lowry

 

[HayLouise]

Mr Quirke also detailed his movements on the day Mr Ryan disappeared. Insp Buckley agreed that the accused told him it was his wife Imelda's birthday that weekend and he had organised a trip to The Heritage Hotel in Laois.

She knew she was going away but the location was a surprise. On the evening of June 2, the night before Mr Ryan's disappearance, Mr Quirke attended a shareholders meeting in Horse and Jockey regarding a property investment.

The following morning he got up at about 6.15 but he couldn't be sure of the time as he doesn't set an alarm and never checks the time.

He had a boy working for him who spent that morning milking cows at his dairy farm in Breanshamore. Meanwhile, Mr Quirke went to Fawnagowan to collect two bulls that he planned to leave with his cows over the weekend.

He used a cow box and jeep to transport them. "I wanted to get in and out fast," he said. When he arrived back at Breanshamore the cows were nearly all milked so he dropped off the bulls, finished milking the cows and went for breakfast at about 9.30.

When Mr Quirke went off with his wife for their weekend away he left his helper bringing in the silage on his own.

Mr Quirke went into detail about milking times for his cows and how often his milk is collected every week.

Murder accused Patrick Quirke told cops he was afraid of 'vicious' ex Mary Lowry

 

[HayLouise]

19 Feb 2019:

Woman's hair clip and bone fragments found in tank where DJ Bobby Ryan's body was in Co Tipperary

A jury was also told the part-time DJ’s van was given to his son and used in an RTE Crimecall programme before it could be examined for clues

A woman's hair clip, buttons and bone fragments were found in the underground tank where Bobby “Mr Moonlight” Ryan’s remains were found, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

A jury was also told the part-time DJ’s van was given to his son and used in an RTE Crimecall programme before it could be examined for clues.

Garda Gerry Canty, a crime scene examiner, told prosecution counsel Michael Bowman SC that he visited the scene at Fawnagowan the day after Mr Ryan’s remains were found and photographed a number of items that were taken from the tank.

These included, he said, bone fragments, a lady’s hair clip, cable ties, tubing, buttons and pipe covers. The items were placed in a tamper evident bag and marked as exhibits in the case. Gda Canty told Lorcan Staines SC for the defence there was no discussion about those items when they were found and he said he didn’t have any thoughts about them.

When Mr Staines asked if he or any gardai present were surprised that a lady’s hair clip was found in the tank where Bobby Ryan’s body lay the witness replied: “I wasn’t surprised and no one else expressed surprise to me.”

A Gardai forensic team examine the scene at a farm between Tipperary town and Bansha where the body of a man was discovered in a slurry pit. (Image: Liam Burke/Press 22)

Woman's hair clip and bone fragments found in tank where body was found

 

[HayLouise]

Garda Canty agreed that he made his first statement in relation to what he saw at Fawnagowan in November 2018, five and a half years after he visited the farm.

He said he made the statement using notes he had written at the time. He further accepted that he did not mention the hair clip in his statement or his written notes.

The witness also accepted that the garda exhibits chart stated that the tamper evident bag contained cable ties, a hair clip, tubing and pipe cover while the chart disclosed to the defence stated only that there were cable ties and pipe covers in the bag.

Under reexamination Gda Canty told Mr Bowman that he had nothing to do with retrieving, bagging, marking or charting the contents of the bag.

Detective Garda Sharon Langan of the ballistics section of the Garda Technical Bureau told Mr Bowman that she visited the farm at Fawnagowan on April 30, 2013.

When she looked into the tank she saw what she thought was a body lying face down in water or effluent.

She watched as it was removed from the tank by firefighters wearing bio-hazard suits. Once the body had been removed it was laid on a sheet of plastic and wrapped up.

It was “fairly decomposed”, she said, and she noted a gold watch but no clothes.

The following day she attended a post mortem carried out by Dr Khalid Jaber who handed her samples including muscle tissue, the watch, bone marrow, head hair, a maggot and a tooth. She bagged each of these so they could be delivered to forensic scientists for examination.

She also examined the deceased’s Citroen van and agreed with Mr Staines that since Mr Ryan’s disappearance the van had been used in an RTE Crimecall programme and was also returned to the deceased’s son Robert Ryan Jnr. As a result, she said she was not optimistic about finding relevant evidence from it.

She further told Mr Staines that she could remember a large concrete lid being removed from the tank by a JCB and she remembered seeing the lid crack. She didn’t make a note of the crack, she said, and didn’t mention it in her statement. Mr Staines asked her if the removal of the lid was a significant event on the day and the witness replied: “no”.

Mr Staines said that everyone present knew that a body had been found in the tank and the decision was made to take the lid off in the hope that it would be done as efficiently as possible and with the least amount of destruction possible.

“So when it shattered it would have been to the forefront of the minds of those watching,” he said.

The witness said she doesn’t remember and agreed that it is not mentioned in her notes.

Mr Staines suggested there would have been dust and pieces breaking off, rocks and pebbles falling into the tank.

He again asked if this was not a significant event that she would remember. Det Gda Langan replied: “I’m sorry, I really don’t.” The witness added that she was not aware if the deceased’s arm came away during the efforts to retrieve him from the tank.

Woman's hair clip and bone fragments found in tank where body was found

 

[HayLouise]

Counsel asked her if there was any conversation about bringing in a pathologist before removing the body and she agreed that it is best practice to do so and in an “ideal world all of that would fall in to place”. She said she was not making the decisions in this case but from her experience she knows that sometimes scientists are requested but are not available. She added: “We carry on as best we can.”

She said there was no urgency and nobody had said they had to get the body out of the tank quickly.

Under reexamination she told Mr Bowman that it would not be appropriate to engage with a body “in situ” in circumstances where there is a potential health and safety issue. This was, she said, one such case. She further noted that the firemen who entered the tank did so wearing bio-hazard suits.

Woman's hair clip and bone fragments found in tank where body was found

 

[HayLouise]

18 Feb 2019:

Tank with DJ Bobby Ryan's body opened weeks before remains were found, love rival trial hears

Dr John Manlove, a forensic entomologist, gave evidence at the murder trial

The tank containing Bobby Ryan’s remains was opened weeks before the man accused of his murder said he discovered the DJ’s decomposing body, an insect expert has told a court.

Dr John Manlove, a forensic entomologist, told the murder trial of 50-year-old farmer Patrick Quirke that he saw common blow fly larvae in the deceased’s chest cavity and on his back.

These larvae, he said, were all at the same stage of development and indicated that they had infested the body at least 11 days prior to the discovery.

The small number of larvae and lack of other insects indicated that the body was not exposed for a long period, he added.

Dr Manlove said an engineer’s report he was shown stated that the tank would be perfectly sealed by two concrete slabs that the accused said he removed before finding the body.

Dr Manlove said that an engineer’s report that he was shown stated that the tank would be perfectly sealed by two concrete slabs that the accused said he removed before finding the body.

Tank with Bobby Ryan's body 'opened weeks before remains were found'

 

[HayLouise]

The engineer’s report stated, he said, that once muck and cow waste were placed over the slabs the tank would be perfectly sealed making it impossible for flies to get in or out.

The entomologist therefore concluded that the first time the tank was opened was not on April 30, 2013 when Mr Quirke said he opened it, but some weeks before that.

Dr Manlove told prosecution counsel Michael Bowman SC that he was contacted by gardai in 2014 to help with the investigation into Mr Ryan’s death.

Using a single insect larva retrieved from the scene and photographs of the body after it was removed from the tank, he identified the common blow fly of the Calliphoridae family.

These flies, he said, have a sense of smell that would “embarrass a sniffer dog” and can identify rotting flesh long before a human would notice it.

They then lay their eggs, usually in orifices or open wounds, and when the eggs hatch the larvae use the corpse as a food source.

The insect that was retrieved from the body was a third-stage larva as were the larvae he identified in post mortem photographs.

At this stage he said he would expect the larvae to leave the body to begin their metamorphosis into flies.

The witness agreed with Lorcan Staines SC for the defence that best practice for forensic scientists is to examine bodies at the scene before they have been moved. As he was not at the scene he could not say whether the larvae were alive or dead when the body was removed.

Mr Staines also said that the jury will hear that Mr Quirke told gardai that water from a leaking pipe had flowed into the tank for two days in March 2013.

The witness agreed that if this leak washed away the dirt and cow waste that provided the seal on the tank the resulting gap would have been big enough for flies to get through.

Engineer Michael Reilly told David Humphries BL for the prosecution that he examined the underground tank and found that it was porous and therefore unable to fill to capacity.

Tank with Bobby Ryan's body 'opened weeks before remains were found'

 

[HayLouise]

Nine inch cavity blocks were then used to build the walls and a light 3mm plaster coated the interior. It could be accessed by removing two slabs that covered one portion of it while the rest was covered with poured concrete that was not designed to be removed.

It measures 3.6 metres by 1.8 metres and is 1.6 metres deep, the engineer said. At capacity it would hold 10,368 litres of water.

On February 6 to 8, 2014 the engineer carried out an experiment whereby he poured water from the mains into the tank without interruption for two days.

He measured the level of water in the tank and found that although he had pumped more than 21,000 litres in, the tank held at its maximum 4,212 litres. Over the two days it lost more than 17,000 litres because, he said, it was too porous to hold the water. Once it reached a certain point, he said, water was running out as quickly as it was going in.

Tank with Bobby Ryan's body 'opened weeks before remains were found'

 

[HayLouise]

6 March 2019:

Patrick Quirke’s GP has told his trial that he confided in him about his affair with Mary Lowry and he felt he still had feelings for her after the break-up.

Mr Quirke, a 50-year-old farmer from Breanshamore, Co Tipperary denies murdering his former lover’s boyfriend sometime after June 3 2011.

Dr Ivor Hanrahan said Patrick Quirke mentioned work and financial related stressors when he called to him for a routine check-up in Sept 2010.

He said he referred him to a counsellor and subsequently prescribed anti-depressants for him, mainly to help him sleep.

Tipperary murder trial hears Patrick Quirke told GP about affair with Mary Lowry | Newstalk

 

[HayLouise]

6 March 2019:

In February 2011, he said he told him about an affair he had with Mary Lowry – his wife’s sister-in-law.

He said he told him it was a source of “upset, distress and guilt” and asked him not to document the affair in his file.

When asked if he thought Mr Quirke still had feelings for her, he said he did before adding Mr Quirke was “quite hurt and upset” that she was with someone else.

In her evidence earlier in the trial, Mrs Lowry said she started seeing Bobby Ryan in August 2010.

His last reported sighting was leaving her home on June 3rd 2011.

Mr Quirke denies murdering the local DJ sometime after that date and the date he discovered his body in a tank on her farm in April 2013.

Tipperary murder trial hears Patrick Quirke told GP about affair with Mary Lowry | Newstalk

 

[HayLouise]

11 March 2019:

Patrick Quirke asked how Bobby Ryan died when gardaí visited farm


Gardaí seized computers and documents from murder accused Patrick Quirke’s property less than three weeks after Bobby Ryan’s body was discovered, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Det Sgt John Keane said that when gardaí arrived, the accused asked him what they were looking for and he handed him a copy of the warrant.

After Mr Quirke read it Det Sgt Keane noted that the accused said to him that the media were wrong when they said Mr Ryan’s clothes and wallet were found in the tank with the body.

Det Sgt Keane also noted that Mr Quirke asked him how Mr Ryan died. The garda told Mr Quirke he could not tell him.

Patrick Quirke asked how Bobby Ryan died when gardaí visited farm

 

[HayLouise]

11 March 2019:

Mr Quirke (50), of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Ryan, a part-time DJ known as ‘Mr Moonlight’. He went missing on June 3rd, 2011 after leaving his girlfriend Mary Lowry’s home at about 6.30am.

His body was found in an underground run-off tank on the farm owned by Ms Lowry and leased by the accused at Fawnagown, Co Tipperary in April 2013. The prosecution claims that Mr Quirke murdered Mr Ryan so he could rekindle an affair with Ms Lowry (52).

Det Sgt Keane told prosecution counsel Michael Bowman SC that he obtained a warrant to search Mr Quirke’s home and land from Tipperary District Court on May 13th, 2013 and executed it on May 17th. The search began at 9.30am and gardai left at 4.45pm. The witness was in charge of searching the house and another team searched the lands.

Patrick Quirke asked how Bobby Ryan died when gardaí visited farm

 

[HayLouise]

11 March 2019

Attention

During the search, Det Sgt Keane’s team’s attention was brought to items in another house in the farm yard. He said Mr Quirke also gave gardaí permission to search lands he had more recently started renting on a neighbouring farm.

During the search gardaí seized a computer, electronic devices, documents, green overalls, a red portfolio and other items of that nature, the witness said. They also took possession of a Ford pick-up truck and a trailer.

Det Sgt Keane agreed with defence counsel Bernard Condon SC that the accused made his comment about the media being wrong in relation to what was found in the tank after reading the warrant, which stated that gardaí were looking for those items. It also stated that gardaí were looking for the weapon used to murder Mr Ryan.

The jury earlier heard from Patrick O’Donnell, who told David Humphries BL, for the prosecution, that he worked as a contractor baling silage and spreading slurry on Mr Quirke’s lands.

He said that in or around March 2013 Mr Quirke asked him for a loan of a tractor and agitator, a device used to stir slurry so that it can be sucked into a tanker and spread on the fields. He said this would be a normal request and as neighbours, people would often lend things to each other.

Patrick Quirke asked how Bobby Ryan died when gardaí visited farm

 

[HayLouise]

11 March 2019

Diary

Mr O’Donnell’s diary from 2011 showed that he cut silage at Fawnagowan on May 27th and 31st. On June 2nd, a day before Mr Ryan went missing, he was cutting grass and baling at Fawnagowan and Breanshamore. The following day he had no involvement with Mr Quirke and on June 5th he baled the grass he had cut two days earlier. From April 27th to May 6th, 2013 he did no work at Mr Quirke’s farm.

Seamus Buckley told Mr Bowman that he sells farm machinery and met Mr Quirke at a sales show in Wexford in 2012. He sold a tractor to Mr Quirke, which was delivered the week before Christmas that year. Mr Quirke later agreed to buy a 2,000 gallon tanker from him, which was picked up by one of his workers on the Friday before Mr Ryan’s body was found.

The witness agreed with Mr Condon that it is common sense that farmers upgrade their machinery. “It is not unusual at all,” he agreed.

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

Patrick Quirke asked how Bobby Ryan died when gardaí visited farm

 

[HayLouise]

12 March 2019:

Gardai found handwritten note in accused's house detailing Mary Lowry's involvement with Bobby Ryan

Gardai searching Patrick Quirke's home found a hand written note relating to Mary Lowry and the disappearance of Bobby Ryan, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Detective John Walsh said he discovered the notes on an A-4 sheet of paper in an office area in Mr Quirke's house during a search in May 2013.

He read from the document: "Mary last one to see him", "body naked, either murdered and clothes taken off or never left the house".

The words "never left the house" were underlined, the witness told Michael Bowman SC for the prosecution.

It also contained questions including: "Why did she find the van so quickly? Why did she look for him in a place where she knew he wouldn't have needed to go? Why didn't she act on leads? Why did she give varying accounts of how long he was in the yard before he left for work? Two minutes? Ten minutes?

Why was she so adamant no activity took place in the yard? How would she hear? It wasn't always possible. Why did she rip down photos of Bobby Ryan after his family put them up? Why was she relieved after Crime Call was a rubbish programme and got no help to jog anyone's memory?"

The note also contained the comment: "V strange."Mr Quirke (50) of Breanshamore, Co Tipperary has pleaded not guilty to the murder of part-time DJ Bobby Ryan. Mr Ryan went missing on June 3, 2011 after leaving his girlfriend Mary Lowry's home at about 6.30am.

Gardai found handwritten note in accused's house detailing Mary Lowry's involvement with Bobby Ryan

 

[HayLouise]

12 March 2019:

Det Walsh further told Mr Bowman that he seized a brown envelope inside which was a document relating to Mr Quirke's lease of Ms Lowry's land at Fawnagowan.

Detective Garda Kieran Keane told Mr Bowman that he is the exhibits officer assigned to the investigation into Mr Ryan's death. Following the search he took possession of a computer, two memory keys, two mobile phones, an iPad, a hard drive from one of the farm houses and a phone bill seized from the kitchen.

Swabs were taken for analysis from a pair of overalls hanging in the boiler house, a cow trailer and a crew cab door.

Det Gda Keane agreed with Lorcan Staines SC for the defence that analyses of the overalls, cow trailer and door provided nothing of evidential value.

Plumber Stephen O'Sullivan said gardai asked him in 2013 to test whether Patrick Quirke was telling the truth when he described how water leaking from a mains pipe flowed from an old dairy farm into the tank where Mr Ryan's body was found.

Mr Quirke told gardai that he opened the tank because he needed water to agitate slurry and believed there would be water in it because of the leak some weeks earlier.

Mr O'Sullivan told David Humphries BL for the prosecution how water running from a leak in the area identified by Mr Quirke would have made its way to that tank and told defence counsel Lorcan Staines SC that what the accused told gardai was the truth.

He further stated that there was evidence that pipes in that area had leaked and were repaired by a handyman rather than a professional plumber, something he said would be common on farms.

Gardai found handwritten note in accused's house detailing Mary Lowry's involvement with Bobby Ryan

 

[HayLouise]

12 March 2019:

While the witness carried out the test in 2013, he told Mr Condon he was called as a witness earlier this year.

Siobhan Phillips is a manager at the Cliff House Hotel in Ardmore, Co Waterford. She told Mr Humphries that a booking was made over the phone for a twin room for September 6, 2011.

Confirmation for that booking was sent by email to msmarylowry1@eircom.net.

She said the booking was taken up and included dinner in the Michelin star restaurant. She said she can't say who stayed there or who had the dinner but the bill, which came to €416.20, was paid by Laser on September 7.

The trial has previously heard that Ms Lowry, who said she couldn't remember staying at the Cliff House Hotel, had a bank record detailing a payment to the Cliff House for more than €400.

Ms Phillips agreed with defence counsel Bernard Condon SC that the booking was for a "top end package", famed for its food, in a stunning location with beautiful views.

Mr Condon added: "I'm not trying to sell it for you but it's pretty well known."

The witness agreed.

She said the booking was made under the name Patrick Quirke with an address at Fawnagowan, Tipperary.

The payment was made using a Laser card which was used in the hotel and would have required a PIN. The witness said she was first approached by gardai to make a statement in January.

Under reexamination Ms Phillips told Mr Humphries she doesn't know who made the phone call to make the reservation but the name given was Patrick Quirke.

She also said that whoever made the booking requested a twin room and although the room in question contained a double and single bed, the guest would not have known that.

Sergeant Debbie Marsh told Mr Bowman she and a team of searchers spent three days emptying the tank where Mr Ryan's body was found and searching through its contents.

It consisted of silt, water and debris and gardai used a soil sieve to examine the contents. Any items gathered were brought to the attention of the scenes of crime officers, she said.

Due to health and safety concerns on the first day her team was ordered out of the tank and the Garda subaqua unit went in.

Gardai found handwritten note in accused's house detailing Mary Lowry's involvement with Bobby Ryan

 

[HayLouise]

Handwritten note of questions seized from Quirke home

Handwritten note about DJ Bobby Ryan's disappearance found in murder accused's house