A real life cold case has hit the headlines with the gory details of Brian McGrath’s death coming to light at the ongoing trial of Vera McGrath and Colin Pinder.
However, it’s not the first time the state has investigated a cold case. In fact, there is a dedicated department tasked with reviewing unresolved homicides. So, here’s five things you never knew but were too scared to ask about Ireland’s cold case crew:
1. The McGrath murder trial isn’t Ireland’s first cold case to go to court.
The first ever cold case success in Ireland was that of Phyllis Murphy, a 23-year-old Kildare woman who was raped and murdered back in December 1979. Former army sergeant John Crerar was caught in 2001 by a team led by then Assistant Commissioner Tony Hickey when new forensic science techniques were used to test a blood sample kept in an envelope for 15 years. Hickey’s DNA was found to match samples taken from the victim’s body, he was hauled into court and found guilty.
2. A dedicated cold case department, called the Garda Serious Crime Review Team, was established by the Garda Commissioner back in August 2007.
The team is based at the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation in Harcourt Square and is made up of one detective superintendent, one detective inspector, two detective sergeants and four detective gardaÃ. They also regularly recruit the services of a clinical anthropologist, a forensic psychologist and a dedicated forensic scientist. Just like the TV show.
3. Pre-1980 murders are not currently investigated by the team.
The cold case team are responsible for reviewing every single unresolved homicide that has taken place here since 1980. That’s over two hundred unresolved homicides. So if you think you’ve gotten away with murder, chances are they will be rooting around in your case in the near future.
4. The cold case team has a website where you can help them with their investigations.
Two years after being established, the Garda Serious Crime Review Team launched a cold case website which gives details of a number of cases they are currently looking into. They have started by featuring the cases of six victims, which include murdered Dun Laoghaire teenager Raonaid Murray who died in 1999.
5. The TV crime drama triggered the team’s establishment.*
The idea for the Garda Serious Crime Review Team came from US TV drama Cold Case. Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy was a major fan of the series and wanted to introduce a similar system in Ireland. He also petitioned RTE to commission an Irish version of the show in which he wanted to star.*
*Final fact may not be true.
