0:00

Thanks for listening to Inside the Crime. You'll

0:02

soon hear from several of those closest to

0:05

the case and help remind you of who

0:07

they are and what their connections are. We've

0:09

built an interactive family tree on our website

0:11

where you can learn more about the key

0:13

figures in this story. You'll also find an

0:16

easy to follow interactive map of Portrestown Lane

0:18

as it appeared in 1971 with

0:21

all the key locations clearly

0:23

marked out with handy explainers.

0:25

You'll find it all at

0:27

newstalk.com/deeper inside the crime. Now

0:30

back to the podcast. In

0:35

the last episode of Inside the Crime

0:37

we went inside the courtroom for the

0:39

Unilinski murder trial. The

0:42

theatrics, the whole thing, the

0:44

fingers in the lapel, it

0:46

was all this, you know, my lord

0:48

and my learned friend and all that.

0:52

Lots of witnesses corroborated Martin and Dick's

0:54

version of events that they couldn't have

0:56

been on Portrestown Lane when Una was

0:58

abducted. But the jury didn't

1:00

believe them and while they were

1:03

cleared of murder, both were

1:05

jailed for her manslaughter. In

1:15

this, the final episode of this season of Inside

1:17

the Crime, we look at what

1:20

happened after the two friends were sent to prison.

1:22

You know what he did? He got around with his life.

1:24

He got around with his life as best he could. And

1:29

with Una's murder still unsolved, over

1:33

50 years later, we'll

1:36

ask if there's any hope of

1:39

finding her actual killer. We

1:41

know it's not over. We

1:44

know there's an ending out there. Given

1:53

the sanctity of the jury room, we

1:55

may never know why Martin Conway and

1:57

Dick Donnelly were found guilty of Una's

1:59

manslaughter. slaughter. But if

2:01

the jurors accepted Martin's signed confession, then he

2:03

should be treated as the least culpable of

2:06

the three amigos. At least that's

2:08

what his barrister argued. At

2:10

his sentence hearing, his character was

2:12

described as exemplary. And

2:15

while pleading for leniency for his

2:17

client, Dix Barrister asked Mr Justice

2:20

Seamus Henshey to temper justice with

2:22

mercy. In

2:24

terms of culpability, the prosecutor saw

2:27

things differently and urged the judge

2:29

not to distinguish between them on that front. From

2:32

the evidence, he argued that one was

2:34

just as guilty as the other. As

2:38

we now know, Martin and Dick were

2:41

both sentenced to three years' penal servitude

2:43

that's three years in jail to you

2:45

and I. Understandably,

2:48

especially given their innocence, the

2:51

lads found it hard to adjust to prison life, as

2:54

Martin now remembers. The

2:57

prison officers were okay. It's

2:59

just been locked up. Every

3:04

evening we'd be locked up by a desert with half seven

3:06

or something and slapping

3:08

out there. There was a pot

3:10

of the collar heading down. It's just been

3:12

locked up for something we didn't do. I

3:15

couldn't accept

3:18

that. It was getting

3:20

to me. Look what you're accused of. I'm accused

3:23

of taking some of this life of prison you never even

3:25

see. And then I'd

3:27

go back and say, well, it's your own fault, Martin. I said,

3:29

you're not going to be sad. It wasn't my fault. I couldn't

3:32

help it. I kept

3:35

playing with stuff. I'd been weak and making statements

3:37

where something never happened. Then sometimes people would say

3:39

to you, I would just say to me,

3:41

I used to hear

3:44

that people said, Jack, would you make a statement

3:46

or something never happened? Why would you do that?

3:50

Just in my position and trim would it be

3:52

a different story? The

4:00

their lawyers move to appear their

4:02

convictions, their arguments for heard within

4:04

months and in the end take

4:06

don least conviction was overturned. After

4:09

living under a cloud of suspicion for

4:11

so long, he was now a free

4:13

man. Martian. On

4:15

the other hand was going nowhere. His.

4:17

False confession once again came back to

4:19

haunt him. The course and nothing

4:21

wrong with his conviction. And with that door

4:24

now closed, he had nowhere else to turn.

4:28

Dicks wife on who was still

4:30

mourning the loss of her beloved brother

4:32

Marcy Kerrigan, says Dicks release was

4:34

bittersweet. He

4:37

was imprisoned for maybe six.

4:40

Or eight weeks away from Guess

4:42

A Piece. We were able to

4:44

see him in prison. Yes, and

4:46

with us, For his just

4:48

hope and dust that they would

4:50

be sh sf halo. Friend. Don't listen

4:52

does he get as but he this help

4:54

and at math and would get answers well

4:57

that didn't have been sick or wrestlers maximum

4:59

distance. I was dick after coming house did

5:01

he feel like he was able to move

5:04

our life over the something that stuck with

5:06

them. for a long time afterwards as.

5:08

Universities around with say. He

5:11

got on with your slice as best he thought. As

5:15

devastated as he was by his own lack

5:17

of success, Martian was delighted to see decks

5:19

conviction overturned. He always imagined the two of

5:22

them walking out the gates amount to a

5:24

prison together, but it wasn't to be. Despite

5:28

his obvious died for his old pal

5:30

Mars and missed him terribly. Alone

5:33

in a small cell at Nice, he just

5:35

kept looking at his drawings of home. Which.

5:37

He plastered all over the walls. Small.

5:40

Windows into his former life. On

5:44

those lonely nights poor to sound lane sounds

5:46

like a million miles away. But

5:50

it wasn't long before he struck up

5:52

and unlikely friendship that saw him through

5:54

those dark days. You. Sense

5:56

bank fraud and was lovely. Acacias,

5:58

We're here guys on. clothes to wear

6:00

because he couldn't stand the same as myself after

6:02

a while. I didn't want to be stuck with

6:04

my great prison clothes. We used to go in

6:06

there and we used to console each other. He

6:08

was very nice to me now. I told him

6:10

the whole story. And he said,

6:14

you know what we do? Because he

6:16

was, he seemed to be very intelligent.

6:18

But we started dictating

6:20

a letter with my head to Mary Robinson.

6:22

I don't know what she was at then.

6:24

And a long letter, but

6:27

I think we done it and gave it to the

6:29

prison priorities. But I don't know whether it was sent

6:31

or not or trying to

6:33

help me. You know, Tom was very, very,

6:37

very nice. Just sitting there talking to me. He said,

6:39

was that all with them? Yolks going up and down

6:41

there. He says, you know, and I would be sitting

6:43

there talking for ages. I

6:46

just tried to get in there and I tried to get into

6:48

the, was the printing shop in there and I tried to get

6:51

in because rather than

6:53

just walking around the yard with these other

6:57

fellows, you know, I didn't just like that. I just wanted

6:59

to get away. And then I got, I

7:01

wanted to get into the church and

7:03

I just had cleaning the church and

7:05

that just something that felt like

7:07

you were outside, you know. Understandably,

7:09

Martin was incredibly homesick. He missed

7:12

everyone and everything. His

7:14

only reminders of home were his dreams

7:16

and his drawings. Like

7:19

on Portis Town Lane, his family also longed

7:21

for his release. His sister

7:23

Mary felt they too were being punished.

7:27

I was writing a

7:29

diary and I'd applied for

7:32

a job and

7:34

mum and dad had brought me into town to

7:38

go for the interview and that and they

7:40

were visiting Martin on the way

7:42

out. So

7:45

I do visit, I write about

7:47

it. I said something like, he

7:50

does not look good. But

7:52

I have absolutely no memory of

7:55

that visit. But it was very

7:58

difficult working. then

8:00

as well because the boss passed manchai.

8:03

So twice a day I had to pass manchai. I had

8:06

my freedom, I had a job, I had money, I

8:09

had a boyfriend, I was going

8:11

out. And you could see

8:13

the prison much better that time,

8:15

like it's built up around it. And

8:19

you just have to look in there every day

8:21

and all the parents within there. It was

8:24

just... That's

8:29

a hard journey to make at all, let alone

8:31

twice a day, every day. Twice a day. You'll

8:34

see that twice a day. Only

8:39

three people were allowed to visit Martin in Mount

8:41

Joy prison. His parents and a

8:43

girl he was doing a line with at the time. His

8:47

mum and dad called every Tuesday. And while

8:52

Martin used to count down the

8:54

days until he'd see them, Tuesdays

8:56

were also changed with sadness because he

8:58

knew they'd be leaving without him. Have

9:02

you choose to remember to come in here? Oh,

9:07

sorry. That's okay, take your

9:10

time. It's

9:12

terrible to watch her coming in. She'd be

9:14

smiling, you know. She

9:18

used to keep up, she said, we

9:20

do something, something that'd crop up for the children

9:22

to come out. And she

9:24

was smiling. So we couldn't even touch each other,

9:26

you know. Did

9:29

you look forward to those visits? You

9:31

did. But it was hard when they left. It

9:35

was hard. She was terrible. She just turned her back and

9:37

I knew she was crying. You

9:49

did that. It's

9:51

okay. My goodness. You're doing

9:53

remarkably well. If you want to take a break, Joe Sh And

10:01

how about your dad? Did he chat too

10:03

much? No, ma'am was the one that was,

10:05

you know, on the talk. She was going

10:08

to keep her spirits open when we knew

10:10

what we can. God

10:13

is good in all this, you know. She's just, someone

10:16

will come over this and just

10:18

living in hope as I was doing, you know. Just

10:22

had to get out, just living in a

10:25

literacy ascend and as well and support that

10:27

of my aunt, my mother's sister and we

10:31

all know and everyone believes that you have nothing

10:33

to do with it. And that's, you hold your

10:35

head up high, but that wasn't much, it

10:38

was a consolation for it wasn't much good to me.

10:40

He locked up in there, you know, looking at people

10:42

and looking down the North Circle Road in this third

10:44

evening and he

10:46

locked in here for something that didn't do. The

10:50

mundane daily grind of prison life took

10:52

its toll on Martin. If he

10:55

had killed Unilinski, he'd have learned to live

10:57

with his punishment. But when he knew he

10:59

hadn't, every single day felt like

11:01

a life sentence. That

11:03

said, Martin was a model prisoner. He put

11:05

his head down and kept out of trouble.

11:09

As the end of his sentence approached, he

11:11

was moved to Shelton Abbey, an open prison

11:13

on the North Bank of the Avoca River

11:15

near Arclough in County Wicklow. And

11:17

in 1975, having served

11:19

his time for a crime he didn't commit,

11:22

Martin was released early on good

11:24

behavior. time

12:00

for a crime I didn't commit. And I

12:02

mean, how was it kind of setting back

12:04

into the community in Portisone after that? And

12:07

it felt okay, because the feeling we were

12:09

getting everyone, most people around, even like, God

12:13

and Portis, my grandfather, were

12:15

very, very supportive. Only for them, I don't

12:17

think I just have, I get in truth,

12:19

but they were very, very confident. That helped

12:22

me in awful at you know, that they believed

12:24

us. I

12:26

was conscious of myself and paranoid about making the

12:29

statement. So I was very conscious of what people

12:31

would be saying. And I never

12:34

got any bad feedback, only certain things you

12:36

might hear from someone, then someone might say

12:38

like, there's no smoke without fire, the

12:40

most had something to do with it, you know, didn't

12:42

they admit to it, you know, this kind of thing.

12:45

And I'd strangely always take it

12:47

seriously. Other times people would say, well, look at

12:49

people who are entitled to their opinion, let them

12:51

say that. But most people

12:53

were very supportive. But

12:56

it's just life was torture, just

12:58

living every every day when I got

13:00

out, just trying to survive, you know,

13:02

it was

13:05

difficult getting through every day serious

13:08

times and I just contemplated then

13:10

that I remember going to work, getting

13:13

up in the morning crying out to work, in

13:16

work crying. And I remember some

13:18

guys looked at me and I was driving

13:20

the JCB to payment and I just fell

13:23

inside crying in the machine. I was

13:26

it was cruel, just getting through trying to

13:28

live life. I'm accused of this. Like I

13:30

felt there's nothing could be done. I just

13:32

have to live the rest of my life.

13:35

You know, every bloody day, every

13:38

weeks and months and years I'm buying

13:40

was the same thing. Despite

13:45

being relieved to once again have his

13:47

freedom, Martin really struggled to adjust to

13:49

life outside the prison walls. Understandably,

13:52

he just couldn't leave the past

13:54

behind. He and those closest

13:56

to him knew he'd been the victim of

13:58

a great injustice. but there were others

14:01

who weren't so sure. No smoke

14:03

without fire, as he set himself. To

14:06

Manny, he was a convicted killer, and

14:08

he felt the rest of his life would be defined

14:11

by what he did, or more to the point, what

14:13

he didn't do. And

14:15

then, out of the blue, something

14:18

happened that would once again

14:20

turn his whole world upside down.

14:23

Martin fell in love. Thank

14:31

you, my name, Anne. Nice to meet

14:33

you. Your kitchen is sad. Beautiful. Yeah,

14:35

gorgeous. I

14:40

can't extend your hand. Oh, it's

14:42

sad. Really, it's gorgeous. I know

14:44

like a first-year-old. Behind every graced

14:46

man is a graced woman, and

14:49

as we chat to Martin at his

14:51

kitchen table, his wife Anne is seated

14:53

behind him on a comfortable-looking couch. No,

14:55

it's lovely. It's okay for the table. From

15:02

time to time, Martin swivels in his chair

15:04

to check something with her. Mostly

15:07

dates. More important than

15:09

others. So, we

15:12

got married, what's it? We got married, A-tree.

15:17

A-tree, we got married down there. Is that

15:19

right? Don't

15:25

ask me to get a hurt. I

15:27

could see the best rolling down the forehead

15:29

there. I'm a joke, so

15:31

I'm a cumster that. Well, look, you got that's an

15:33

important date. You got that one right. Anyway,

15:36

he was born in A-nine,

15:39

wasn't he? Strange thing, he was

15:41

born, especially he

15:45

was born the same day we got married.

15:47

He was born busy days. What's the thing

15:49

about it? The fourth. On our sixth wedding

15:51

anniversary, he was born. Martin

15:54

may have needed a little nudge there, but

15:56

as Anne points out, their son Ray was

15:58

born on their sixth wedding anniversary. Three. It

16:01

was Nineteen Eighty Nine, Fourteen years

16:03

after he left prison. With.

16:05

An and Re now in his life mars and

16:08

found the strength to go on. But.

16:10

He still couldn't shake the feeling that

16:12

people associated him with what happens to

16:14

own Alinsky. Douglas. Free Rock

16:16

desert saying x I wasn't frame of mind.

16:19

wasn't free risk play in my mind day

16:21

in day out. just. How

16:24

can I live for their sons and

16:26

them? I couldn't see, it was

16:28

just has hours. Every day was hand and

16:30

I was. On. Around the road

16:32

a very firm that coming here and that

16:34

I was hard to numerous validated as or

16:36

of it Especially progress. few drinks, Paranoia.

16:39

Yeah, I was serious. And.

16:44

Criminologists, ham and just

16:46

couldn't get beer and

16:48

nobody escapes. modest. In

16:51

owned and. I when

16:53

raves Barney Nine down, are you

16:56

a factor actually kept me on

16:58

this? Been married on an an

17:00

array of says i can't. I

17:02

can't do And to my cervix upstairs

17:04

mercy of me I miss it's. These

17:07

leopard raise or someone to cart around. When

17:10

the prime directive swam hear noises, I have

17:12

to be strong for hims. In

17:14

on us were kept me on. I say if

17:16

I wasn't married and didn't have the way my

17:18

son and be probably wouldn't be here today and

17:20

us the truth. Honest to God

17:22

I wouldn't be able to do for

17:24

couldn't I couldn't use. Glamorous,

17:27

Or for make a statement and been banned from taken

17:29

the curves nice. Aside

17:31

from Raise Barth, something else happened in Nineteen

17:33

Eighty Nine that would have a profound impact

17:35

on the rest of Martin Slice. In.

17:39

Nineteen Seventy Five the same year mars

17:41

and finished his sentence the so called

17:43

Guildford former convict that the Old Bailey

17:46

in London for a crime they to

17:48

hadn't committed. These bombings were part of

17:50

a horrendous terrorist campaign on the mainland

17:53

in which altogether thirty seven people were

17:55

murdered and some four hundred were injured.

17:58

The. previous year at the Out of

18:00

the troubles in Northern Ireland, the IRA blew

18:02

up two pubs in Guildford, a town in

18:05

West Surrey in England. And

18:07

so, without warning, in the autumn

18:09

of 1974, the provisional IRA

18:12

struck at the heart of the home

18:14

county, as Guildford in Southern.

18:25

Four British soldiers and the civilian were

18:27

killed in those blasts, with many more

18:29

wounded. Jerry

18:34

Conlon was one of those wrongly blamed.

18:37

Like Martin, he was also just 20 years

18:39

of age when his nightmare began. He

18:42

had moved to England from Belfast in search of work. He

18:46

and the others made false confessions after

18:48

a period of intense and prolonged police

18:50

interrogation. Conlon later insisted

18:52

the police had tortured him. At

18:56

their trial, the judge told them that if

18:58

hanging were still an option, he'd have them

19:00

executed. Instead, he sentenced each

19:02

of them to life in prison.

19:05

However, following long, hard-fought campaigns

19:07

for justice, the Guildford Four

19:10

were fully vindicated. Martin's

19:14

son, Ray, was just six months

19:16

old when Jerry Conlon marched

19:19

out the front door of

19:39

the Old Bailey, having had his

19:41

conviction overturned. I

20:00

didn't do. I just started

20:04

crying. I

20:06

looked straight at it. I can't talk

20:08

about this now. I just looked at it

20:10

and said, I've got a course

20:12

living it.

20:16

That's what got me going. I didn't stop.

20:19

I didn't stop then. I just kept going. I

20:25

know it was a difficult moment but a

20:27

magical moment to be looking at Jerry

20:29

Conlon. Were you looking at Jerry Conlon and thinking, the

20:31

look of he can get his things on? I can

20:33

see him, I can see myself behind him. I can

20:35

see me and him. That's the

20:38

nicest Jesus I'm doing something that I can't live

20:41

any longer with this. I'm

20:43

doing it for a ray. Unlike

20:47

Martin, Jerry Conlon was now a free man

20:49

in the truest sense of the word. Not

20:52

only had he shaken off the shackles that held him in

20:54

an English prison for 15 years but

20:57

the whole world now knew that he had done no

20:59

wrong. Listening

21:01

to his impassioned cries, Martin

21:03

felt inspired. With

21:06

tears in his eyes, he watched Ray

21:08

cooing in the corner. The

21:11

innocence he knows. He

21:14

dreaded the day he'd have to tell Ray

21:16

his story. And in

21:18

that moment, as shots of a triumphant Jerry

21:21

Conlon were being beamed into his living room,

21:23

Martin vowed to once again take on the

21:26

might of the state. Little

21:29

did he know it would prove to be

21:31

his toughest battle to date. Hi

21:36

Frank, how are you? Jerry, how's it going? Into

21:38

the lion's king. Very nice to meet you. You

21:40

do realize this donkey here is just, it's like

21:42

going back to school. I'm

21:44

in the offices of Talon's solicitors, overlooking

21:47

the river Boin in the heart of Drahada.

21:51

I'm here to meet Deirdre Morin. Deirdre

21:55

is now a well-established partner at the

21:57

firm but when Martin's case landed

21:59

on her her desk back in 1997, she

22:02

was just starting out, having graduated only

22:04

a few years before then. Martin

22:07

initially went to our Ashburn

22:10

office to see Sheila

22:12

Cooney, who is the managing partner of both

22:14

firms. And she

22:17

has immensely good

22:19

instincts for cases and

22:22

knew that this was a very important case

22:24

to take on, despite the fact

22:26

that it was 23 years from the original case

22:31

and the manslaughter. And

22:35

she had faith in Martin from day one

22:37

that he was innocent. She

22:40

passed the file over to me in 1997 and

22:42

she filled me with the enthusiasm that she

22:48

had in relation to

22:50

the matter, despite the fact that it was going to

22:52

be a very daunting case to take on. After

22:55

having an epiphany watching Jerry Condon on TV back

22:58

in 1989, you might be wondering why

23:01

it took so long for Martin to walk into

23:03

Talon's solicitors. But the truth is, back then

23:06

it would have been pointless. He'd

23:09

already challenged his conviction and lost, so

23:11

there were no further avenues of appeal open to

23:14

him. And then, over 20

23:16

years later, a new law was introduced

23:18

that allowed for cases to be revisited

23:21

if new evidence came to light. He

23:27

just needed to find that elusive piece of

23:30

evidence that would give him another shot at

23:32

clearing his name. And

23:34

that's when a chain-smoking, car

23:37

salesman turned private investigator, called

23:39

Billy Flynn, came into his life.

23:54

One time, I knew he was a great man

23:56

to write a letter. And we used to

23:58

always write a comment at the front. speak long scribbles

24:01

and what she is just a letter

24:03

from Billy with some good news now is beyond everyone's down

24:05

used to be looking forward to and I was as

24:08

we spent ages reading and as was an

24:10

award-reading and next to the phones would be

24:12

hopping and god Billy, Billy is working hard

24:14

now. While

24:17

Billy Flynn chased Leeds back a talent

24:19

solicitors Dierdo was left chasing her tail

24:21

as the stack of reports and interviews

24:23

left in his wake continued to pile

24:25

up. One of

24:27

the first things she did was write to the director

24:29

of public prosecutions. She wanted

24:31

the original book of evidence the one

24:33

used in Martin's case. Before

24:36

a person can be sent for trial

24:38

the prosecution must hand over all relevant

24:40

evidence collected by Gardee even if it

24:42

favors the defense. No

24:44

big deal she thought no

24:47

problem she was told. But

24:49

then for some reason the lawyers

24:52

for the state changed their tune leaving

24:55

Dierdo with no choice but to seek a

24:57

court order forcing them to hand it over.

25:00

Even with the book of evidence it soon

25:02

became clear that she still was in plane

25:05

with a full deck. Once

25:07

again she had to go looking for more files

25:10

and by the time she was drip fed

25:12

the next batch she was left even more

25:14

frustrated than ever. By

25:17

the time we got that discovery there

25:20

was a schedule attached to it in

25:23

relation to documentation that no longer existed.

25:26

So from 1997 to 2004 documents were either lost or destroyed that

25:28

we had hoped to see. Now

25:36

in the schedule of setting out statements there

25:38

was originally 371 statements taken and

25:42

of those 371 266 were lost or destroyed. And

25:44

what explanation were you given as to what

25:53

happened to that documentation? It

25:55

would seem that there were two sets of

25:57

documentation one that was in the Garde ahead.

26:00

quarters and one

26:02

set that was in Dunshoplun

26:05

at Garthastation. Ultimately, what

26:07

we got was the documentation that

26:09

was in the Garthastation headquarters. The

26:12

documents that were in Dunshoplun

26:14

were stored in the basement

26:16

in Dunshoplun. They were then

26:19

asked to

26:21

be moved. The idea

26:23

was that they were to be taken to

26:25

Garthastation headquarters. However, they were

26:27

sent to Garthastation. Now,

26:31

the explanation was that Dunshoplun was

26:34

the basement was rat infested. They

26:37

were stored in black bags in the

26:39

ladies toilet in Drada

26:42

Garthastation. And the explanation

26:44

for their disappearance seems

26:46

to be from the evidence that was

26:48

given that they were seen as

26:51

rubbish and disposed of. It's

26:54

hard to believe that such important files were

26:56

treated like that, stored in

26:58

bin bags and tossed out as if there were

27:01

nothing more than pieces of rubbish. 371

27:04

statements taken, 266 lost or destroyed, zero hope of finding

27:13

out what was in them. Undeterred

27:16

by the constant delays and setbacks,

27:19

Deirdre ploughed on, refusing to dwell

27:21

on what she didn't have, and

27:23

instead focusing on what she did

27:25

have. We

27:27

were again inundated with

27:29

documentation. It was voluminous,

27:32

what we received, despite the fact that it

27:34

wasn't the full amount of documentation that we

27:36

had hoped to get. And at

27:39

a certain stage, our Senior Council

27:42

Hugh Hartnett directed that myself and

27:44

the Junior Council Aaron Shearer would

27:47

go through all the

27:49

documentation with a fine tooth comb and

27:51

forensically. Now, you couldn't have

27:53

undertook that during a normal working day.

27:55

So it required us coming in at

27:58

weekends, both of us. This

28:00

went on for a number of months

28:03

and on one particular weekend I

28:06

was comparing the witness statements

28:09

that were in the book

28:11

of evidence as against the

28:14

witness statements that were in

28:16

the documentation that was furnished

28:18

to us. It

28:21

became apparent that there was a

28:23

number of witness statements that

28:26

were there that were

28:28

not in the book of evidence and

28:30

in particular three witnesses

28:33

who were very significant witnesses

28:35

for the prosecution in the original

28:38

trial had made

28:40

more statements than were in the

28:42

book of evidence. The

28:51

statements that dared to realize were

28:53

missing from the original book of

28:55

evidence belonged to the prosecution's three

28:57

star witnesses. Remember them, Sean Riley,

28:59

Martin Madden and John Shevlin. At

29:03

trial their evidence placed Dix Ford

29:06

Zephyr on Portis Town Lane during

29:08

that crucial 15-minute window when it's

29:10

believed Una was abducted and

29:15

now Deirdre had something entirely

29:17

different in her hands.

29:21

On the 20th of October 1971 just

29:24

over a week after Una went missing Martin

29:27

Madden made his first statement to local Garde.

29:30

It was four typewritten pages long.

29:35

In it he said that during the five

29:37

minutes he was parked outside Sean Riley's house

29:39

on Portis Town Lane no car or any

29:41

other person passed up or down the road.

29:45

No car. However

29:47

five days later on the same day

29:49

Martin, Dick and Marcy were hauled into

29:51

Trim Garde the station, Martin

29:54

Madden made a complete U-turn on what

29:56

he'd said before. In

29:59

this statement to Taken by Detective John Courtney

30:01

and Inspector Hubert Reynolds from the Gar the

30:03

Murder Squad, he said he

30:05

thought he saw Dick Donnelly's car pass

30:08

by with Martin Connery and Marty Kerrigan

30:10

inside, from no car to Dick's

30:12

car. In

30:15

Sean Riley's original statement, he said that when

30:17

Martin Madden pulled up outside his house that

30:19

night, his car was facing away from Portis

30:21

Town Lane, so even if a car had

30:23

passed by, he said he wouldn't have been

30:25

able to see it. But

30:28

in a later statement, given to none other

30:30

than Gar the Brian Gilday, Sean

30:32

Riley said they had a good view of the road.

30:36

He too went on to place Dick Zephyr on

30:38

the lane during the relevant time, with Marty Kerrigan

30:41

as his front seat passenger. Young

30:45

John Shevlin's statement devolved from not

30:47

remembering any cars passing up or

30:49

down Portis Town Lane to a

30:51

detailed account of hearing Dick Donnelly's

30:53

Zephyr. As

30:56

Deirdre had just discovered, none of their original

30:59

statements were in the book of evidence. If

31:01

they had been, Martin's defence team

31:03

would have surely challenged their evidence.

31:06

The next step was to

31:08

speak to the original legal

31:11

team. And thankfully, two

31:13

of them were available. Maura

31:16

Tean, who used to be the

31:18

County Registrar, in Trim and the

31:20

ex-Attorney General, Harry Whelan. He

31:22

had been the junior counsel on the case. And

31:26

we met and interviewed both of them.

31:30

And Maura Tean in particular became

31:34

very emotional when she

31:36

saw the statements. She

31:38

was so upset that she and

31:41

she confirmed that she had never seen them before and

31:44

had never been aware of them. And

31:47

both herself and Harry Whelan both confirmed

31:49

that if they had been aware of

31:51

them, the way they would have

31:53

ran the original case would have been hugely

31:56

different. It would have

31:58

allowed them to undermine their evidence. the

32:01

three main prosecution witnesses.

32:04

They would have been able to explore why there

32:07

had been these different statements

32:09

taken and the significance of

32:11

them. You may

32:13

be wondering why the three star witnesses changed

32:16

their statements or given what you've

32:18

heard so far perhaps you know already. Sadly

32:23

Martin Madden and John Shevlin had

32:25

both passed away by the time

32:27

Martin's private investigators sought them out.

32:30

Sean Riley was still alive though and

32:32

in April 1998 he told Billy

32:34

Flynn that the only reason he changed

32:36

his statement was because he

32:39

was beaten in Trimgar the station. He

32:42

said he was very afraid when they brought him in. If

32:44

he was slow in giving answers he said they'd

32:46

punch him. They

32:49

told me I'd be blamed for Una's disappearance unless

32:51

I told them what they wanted to know he

32:54

said. Sean

32:56

Riley had no memory of saying anything

32:58

about Dick Donnelly's car in his original

33:01

statement nor did he recall saying anything

33:03

about Marty. Looking

33:06

back at Sean Riley's performance in the witness box back

33:08

in 1972 it's now clear he

33:12

was trying to reverse to his

33:14

original statement trying to make amends.

33:17

The same can be said for the other two as well especially

33:19

Martin Madden who you may remember

33:21

was treated as a hostile witness

33:24

by the prosecution. In

33:26

the end it was their later damning

33:28

statements that went to the jury with

33:31

devastating consequences for Martin and

33:33

Dick. Despite

33:35

that, Martin doesn't bear

33:38

any grudges. No

33:40

I was shocked when I heard what

33:42

they were saying but

33:45

Sean Riley went through the mill and Trim

33:47

as well you know and

33:51

he had to live he had to live with that feeling he

33:53

was the cause of us getting locked

33:55

up and Marty's life being taken you know that

33:57

was tough on him as well as Sean you

33:59

know. I had no hatred

34:02

towards them, because I realised

34:04

what they went through afterwards.

34:09

Now armed with the original statements of

34:11

the three star witnesses, Deirdre and

34:13

the rest of Martin's new legal team brought

34:15

a fresh appeal. But

34:19

even with their newfound facts, it was by

34:21

no means an open goal for them. Lawyers

34:24

of the state suggested the original statements

34:26

may have been handed over at the

34:28

time, perhaps in a more informal way

34:30

than happens nowadays. The

34:32

judges heard sworn evidence that they

34:34

definitely were not. They

34:38

also argued that even if the

34:40

statements had been disclosed, it wouldn't

34:42

have mattered because of Martin's false

34:44

confession. With

34:47

both sides having made their arguments, all

34:50

that was left to do now was to wait

34:52

for a decision. You

34:55

could imagine the anticipation that there was after

34:57

the body of work that we put in

34:59

from 1997 to

35:02

2010. And it wasn't

35:06

a given that we were going to succeed.

35:08

In fairness to the state, they put up a very

35:11

good case and they had a fantastic

35:13

legal team on the other side, Brendan

35:15

Graham being one of the top senior

35:17

councils in the country. And

35:22

we were nervous, everyone was nervous in

35:24

the run up to the judgment being

35:26

given on the Monday morning. You

35:29

can never be confident in court work, no

35:31

matter how good your case is. And over the

35:34

years of being a qualified

35:36

solicitor since 1994, I've

35:38

gone into cases where I think this

35:41

is perfect, this is we're going to

35:43

win this only to find the reverse

35:45

happens. It's a

35:48

mercurial situation to be in. You

35:51

don't know how it's going to play out. And

35:53

even when you're in the middle of it, you

35:55

still find it very difficult to call it. So We

36:00

couldn't have said. The night

36:03

before that we were sure. That

36:05

we were going to win. On

36:07

the twenty seconds of November. Twenty

36:10

Ten. Three judges fires

36:12

into to deliver judgment in

36:14

Marsans appeal against his thirty

36:16

eight year old conviction. Flanked

36:20

by his fellow judges, Mr. Justice

36:22

Adrian, High Demand cleared his throws.

36:25

And. Began reading the courts forty

36:27

six page judgments. He.

36:30

Started by outlining the background to

36:32

the case. He spoke about

36:34

Alinsky disappearance and the know but the

36:36

case against Mars and con me and

36:38

his friends. As.

36:41

He moved down through the judgment. He

36:43

pointed out how important the evidence of

36:45

the three star witnesses was. It

36:48

was highly relevance he said. According

36:53

to the course, their original statements

36:55

were radically inconsistent with laser statements

36:57

and with the evidence they gave

36:59

a trial. And there

37:01

was no doubt that the originals should have

37:03

been handed over to the defense. As

37:07

Mr. Justice Hardy man approached the final

37:10

page of that judgment, It. Soon

37:12

became clear that something profound was

37:14

about to happen. At

37:18

Mars and Sister Mary. Didn't. Have

37:20

to waste. I

37:22

knew first, really. Still,

37:25

His. Shoe Harkness as

37:27

Michael Oher Guns. And

37:29

then there was some matter of a

37:31

chipotle maturing her again. I think they

37:33

were both senior. bar says that onstage

37:35

and those is a junior guy that

37:37

I had met down and aspirants had.

37:39

Candace may be preparing us a little

37:41

this and he is really nice guy.

37:44

And he was sitting in the bench

37:46

in front of me and stuff virus.

37:48

I can't think of his name now

37:50

he just you know. The. Judgment those to

37:52

bundle up a person. He just went to

37:54

Texas. and he

37:56

just tap turned around to be and they said I

38:01

was like, oh, and then I thought,

38:03

oh, anybody was like, you know. And

38:06

Martin is sitting over there and he doesn't

38:08

know why, you know, we knew. I

38:12

think you feel very numb in that moment. It

38:15

almost feels surreal until

38:17

you get to that point where it's

38:20

clear that the words are said that

38:23

the conviction has been crushed. And

38:26

then you can allow yourself to believe it. So

38:29

there's a roller coaster of feelings that you

38:31

have in a situation like that. The

38:33

elation on the day to see

38:36

him be able to address the press himself

38:39

in his own words on

38:41

how he felt and that

38:43

at last he felt that justice

38:45

was being done was marvellous. I'm

38:49

sure a very difficult life being accused of

38:52

trying and competing in this world. It

38:54

has affected my health and has been difficult

38:56

to get through most days. I have had

38:58

to watch my two friends who were accused

39:01

with me suffering as well for something they

39:03

were innocent of going off to last this

39:05

day. I'm delighted that the

39:07

season of the power today has powerfully cleared my

39:09

name. Thank you very much. The

39:15

funny thing is that despite winning his

39:17

appeal and having his conviction quashed, Martin

39:20

didn't feel much like celebrating afterwards. It

39:24

all felt unexpectedly hollow,

39:27

almost meaningless. Sure,

39:29

he had his moment in front of the

39:31

cameras just like Jerry Conlin did outside the

39:33

Old Bailey, but unlike Jerry

39:36

Conlin, Martin still didn't feel

39:38

fully vindicated. He

39:41

felt unbelievably let down by

39:43

the state, physically and mentally tortured

39:45

by agents of the state, and

39:47

at the very least, he wanted

39:49

somebody to say sorry. And

39:53

so began the next grueling leg of

39:55

his path to justice, as

39:57

Deirdre now recalls. In

40:00

2010, the conviction is

40:02

quashed, but we don't get to the outcome

40:05

of the miscarriage of justice until four

40:07

years later. Again, very

40:10

difficult for Martin in

40:12

that intervening time to

40:14

still be living with all of this.

40:17

He was very conscious, and I'm sure he's spoken to

40:19

you about it, about how

40:22

his son perceived him for his

40:24

son to know that this was

40:28

something that he did not do and could

40:31

never have done. The perd step, poor

40:34

Martin had many steps to

40:36

take before he got to that particular point.

40:39

The miscarriage of justice, after

40:42

that you have the

40:44

right to apply for

40:46

damages. But again, for

40:49

Martin, it wasn't really about the damages,

40:51

it was about so much more. I

40:54

think that's where we come back

40:56

to the fact that Sheila Cooney had such

40:58

great instincts that she knew from the moment

41:01

that she met this man, that he was

41:03

innocent, and that it was

41:05

an important piece of work for her,

41:08

for the firm to take on, to

41:10

get him to the point where he

41:12

wanted to be. It was

41:16

really down to her and the legal team

41:18

that took over from me at that point.

41:20

I didn't have as much involvement at

41:23

that stage, that they were able

41:25

to negotiate with the state and

41:28

to obtain what Martin really

41:31

wanted, which was the apology. On

41:35

the 16th of November 2016, two

41:39

years after the Court of Criminal Appeal declared

41:41

a miscarriage of justice, Martin

41:43

Connery finally got what he was

41:45

looking for. He

41:48

was just 20 when Unalinsky went missing

41:51

in October 1971. Now

41:56

aged 65 and once again

41:58

seated on a hard bench in the High Court. course, he

42:01

perked up his ears as a lawyer for

42:03

the state rose to his feet. In

42:08

that moment, everything stood still

42:12

as Martin was catapulted back to that

42:14

dusty dock when a prosecutor urged a

42:16

jury to convict him of murder. With

42:21

his old pal Dick by his side and

42:23

Marty in his heart, Martin

42:26

basked in the words he'd fought so

42:28

long and so hard to hear. Finally,

42:31

he thought, I'm an

42:33

innocent man. The

42:40

Minister for Justice and Equality, on behalf of

42:42

the state, wishes to formally

42:45

acknowledge that Mr. Martin Conmey, who was convicted

42:47

of certain offences in 1973 and served a

42:49

term of

42:51

imprisonment, was a victim of

42:54

a miscarriage of justice. The

42:57

state apologises unreservedly to Mr. Conmey.

43:00

The state regrets the pain and loss experienced

43:02

by Mr. Conmey as a result of his

43:04

imprisonment. I would hand

43:06

him steps to pay appropriate compensation to

43:09

him. Seven

43:14

years on, on the 52nd

43:16

anniversary of her disappearance, Angarda Sheikana

43:18

launched a full review into the

43:20

death of Una Linsky. The

43:24

guard investigation to the murder of

43:26

Una Linsky remains an open investigation.

43:29

The future course of the investigation

43:32

will be determined by the findings of

43:34

the serious crime review. Detective

43:37

Superintendent Des McTernan was appointed as

43:39

the lead. The serious crime

43:41

review team with members of the

43:43

local investigation team in the me

43:45

division have met with the families

43:48

of Una Linsky, Martin Kerrigan,

43:50

Dick Donnelly and Martin Conmey

43:52

himself. As well as

43:54

looking into the circumstances of what happened to Una,

43:56

the cold case unit also announced plans to take

43:58

another look at the case. killing of

44:00

Marty Kerrigan. The review was ordered by the

44:03

Garda Commissioner Drew

44:11

Harris, who had written a letter of

44:13

apology to Martin the previous year. A

44:16

full review involves the independent examination of

44:18

all material gathered in the course of

44:20

all relevant current and

44:22

past investigations. The

44:26

investigation is now well underway, and at

44:28

the time of making this podcast, we're

44:30

still awaiting its findings. After

44:33

all these years, the fact that it's happening

44:35

at all is a relief to everybody. But

44:38

for those still seeking justice for their loved ones,

44:41

is it enough? Marty

44:43

Kerrigan had done no wrong, and he lost his

44:45

life over it. The

44:48

scars of what happened to Dick Donnelly and Trim

44:50

Garda station never left him, and

44:52

sadly, he passed away a few

44:54

years ago without ever receiving an

44:56

apology. Their families would like

44:58

to see a public inquiry. And

45:02

despite all the bad blood that has flowed

45:04

down Porterstown Lane over the years, everyone

45:07

is united in wanting justice for

45:09

Una Linsky. Her killer got away,

45:11

nobody really looked for him. Looking

45:16

back, you can't help but feel

45:18

that the suspicious dark-colored Ford Zodiac

45:20

with the middle-aged male driver, as

45:23

seen by many witnesses, including Una

45:25

Linsky's own cousin, Porek Dutton, holds

45:27

the key to solving this case.

45:31

You have to wonder how hard it would have been to

45:33

track down a car like that in 1971.

45:36

They were a rare sight, even rarer,

45:38

on a country road like Porterstown Lane.

45:42

Who knows what the cold case unit

45:44

will on earth, but the reality is

45:46

that until Una's killer is found, she'll

45:48

never truly rest in peace. Those

45:52

wrongly caught in the crossfire will

45:54

never find peace either. Just

45:56

like everybody else, Martin would love to

45:58

see Una's killer brought to justice. His

46:02

dear mother Eileen lived to see him

46:04

being vindicated. She never doubted

46:06

him. And before she

46:08

died, she spoke about all the innocent

46:10

lives ruined by this and hoped one

46:13

day the truth would set

46:15

them all free. I

46:19

should dare them souls are

46:21

gone to heaven and

46:24

God is wondering why he brought

46:26

them up and

46:28

left the bad ones below. And

46:32

I say that Eileen will

46:34

tell herself what

46:36

happened to herself. I'm

46:39

still waiting. All

46:44

five episodes of Inside The Crime can

46:46

now be found on the Newstalk app,

46:48

powered by Go Loud or wherever you

46:50

get your podcasts. And

46:52

for more exclusive content,

46:54

visit newstalk.com/deeper inside the

46:56

crime. We're really confident

46:59

that someone out there knows something

47:01

or saw something that could help

47:03

advance Una Linsky's murder investigation. If

47:05

you are that person, please contact the Gartha

47:08

Confidential line on 1800 666 111. You

47:13

can also email us at inside

47:15

the crime at newstalk.com. It's

47:18

never too late. Inside

47:21

the Crime was hosted by me,

47:23

Frank Rainey, produced by Aisling Moore,

47:25

with sound mixing by Lachlan Hart.

47:29

Thanks for listening to this story. As

47:32

always, we hope we did it justice.