Courts / Tipperary / Report

"Dark secret": murder accused wrote to agony aunt, witness tells trial

Summary

In the Central Criminal Court, Patrick Quirke, aged 50, denies murdering Bobby Ryan, a DJ known as Mr Moonlight, who was found dead in a run‑off tank on Fawnagowan farm in April 2013. Witness Mary Lowry, 52, testified that Quirke wrote a letter to an agony aunt, published in the Sunday Independent in 2011, admitting he had fallen in love with a woman who later cheated on him. Lowry also claimed Quirke stole underwear from her clothes line and that CCTV footage from December 2012 showed him on her property. She said she confronted him, he admitted writing the letter, and that he had no one else to turn to. Lowry's testimony also covered her relationship with Quirke, her feelings of being manipulated, and her statements to Gardaí in 2011. The trial continues with cross‑examination scheduled for the next day.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: "Dark secret": murder accused wrote to agony aunt, witness tells trial. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• February 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
• June 3, 2011 Hearing Or Sentence
• April 2013 Hearing Or Sentence
• December 3, 2012 Hearing Or Sentence
• December 2012 Other
• July 2013 Other
• June 2011 Other
• 2019-01-30 Publication

Why: She accepted that she did not initially tell gardai about her relationship with Patrick Quirke because, she said, she was ashamed of the "sordid" affair. CNI source report

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Trial Violent Crime

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Read the original CNI report