Courts / Dublin / Report
Nash guilty of 1997 Grangegorman murders
Summary
Mark Nash has been found guilty of murdering two women at sheltered accommodation in Grangegorman, Dublin, in March 1997. A Central Criminal Court jury returned a unanimous verdict after deliberating for over four hours on Monday, 20 April 2015. The trial lasted 48 days, during which 71 witnesses gave evidence. Nash, 42, originally from England with Dublin addresses, had pleaded not guilty to the murders of Sylvia Sheils, aged 59, and Mary Callanan, aged 61. The prosecution's case rested on admissions made by Nash, forensic evidence including DNA found on his jacket, and a caterpillar boot print discovered at the scene. Nash is already serving a life sentence for murders committed in Ballintober, Castlerea, County Roscommon, in August 1997. Mr Justice Carroll Moran imposed a life sentence for the Grangegorman murders. The case had remained unsolved for eighteen years before a DNA breakthrough in 2009 led to Nash's formal charging in October of that year.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Nash guilty of 1997 Grangegorman murders. Charges or matters: the murder of Sylvia Sheils (59) and Mary Callanan (61) between March 6 and March 7, 1997. Procedural stage: sentence. Findings: Found guilty
When:
- October 1998 Other
- March 6 Hearing Or Sentence
- March 7, 1997 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 2009 Other
- April 20 2015 Other
- Friday March 7 1997 Hearing Or Sentence
- January 22 2015 Incident
- July 27 1997 Other
- April 1998 Other
- March 7 1997 Hearing Or Sentence
- August 16 Incident
- August 17 1997 Other
- August 16 1997 Incident
- August 17, 1997 Incident
- March 6, 1997 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 10 2009 Hearing Or Sentence
- December 2014 Hearing Or Sentence
- June 1994 Hearing Or Sentence
- October 1996 Incident
- March 1990 Incident
- 2015-04-20 Publication
Why: Mr Grehan said the most obvious explanation of why DNA of both women were found close together on the jacket was because the person that carried out the murder was the person that was wearing the jacket. CNI source report
Case subjects
Defendant
Charges: the murder of Sylvia Sheils (59) and Mary Callanan (61) between March 6 and March 7, 1997 (Proven)
Plea: Not guilty
Finding: Found guilty
Outcome: Found guilty; Mr Justice Carroll Moran denied this and sentenced Nash to a life sentence for the double murder from today April 20 2015.
Places mentioned
- Arbour Hill Prison
- Mountjoy
- Mountjoy Prison
- Beaumont Hospital
- Prussia Street
- Clonliffe Road
- O'Connell Street
- Central Criminal Court
- Harcourt Square
- High Court
- Supreme Court
- attached to the Bridewell Garda Station
- Mill Street
- Mill Street Garda Station
- Gardai from Mill Street Garda Station
- taken to Mill Street garda station
- night in Mill Street Garda Station
- taken from Mill Street Garda Station
- cell in Mill Street garda station
- Orchard View
- Dublin city
- Roscommon
- Tuam Road
- Galway
- Ballintober
- Castlerea
- Prussia Street
Topics
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