Cold case hopes for victims' families

The success of the so-called Garda 'cold case' team in securing a conviction last week in the Vera McGrath murder case has given new hope to the relatives of murder victims whose cases have never been solved. Vera McGrath, who lived in Navan for a time from the late 1980s until 2005, was found guilty of murdering her husband at their Co Westmeath home over 20 years ago and sentenced to life imprisonment. It was the State's first cold case murder conviction and a triumph for the Garda serious crime review team (SCRT) under the leadership of Detective-Supt Christy Mangan from Dunshaughlin. The eight-person team was set up to review all unsolved murder cases since 1980. The cold case detectives who played such as major role in reopening the investigation into the killing of Brian McGrath in Coole in the spring of 1987 are now turning their attention to other unsolved mysteries where killers have not yet been brought to justice. New scientific breakthroughs and technologies have allowed Gardai to crack cases that they were unable to break heretofore. Brian McGrath's dismembered and burned skeletal remains were only identified positively as recently as 2008; previously, the science simply wasn't there. Unsolved murders stretching back three decades are the main focus of the specialised unit, established as part of a major Garda revamp three years ago. It has clearly already proved its worth and the fervent hope is now that this squad can shed light on at least some of the 207 murders on the unsolved list in the past 30 years. Some of the victims of these unsolved disappearances and killings have become household names familiar to everybody: Raonaid Murray, Grace Livingstone, Annie McCarrick and Fiona Pender are four which spring immediately to mind. These are cases that have baffled detectives and the public for many years and, as such, are never far from the media spotlight. A number occurred in or around the general south Leinster area over a period of years, giving rise to fears of a serial killer, although Gardai have consistently downplayed this possibility. The families of these victims will take some comfort from the outcome of the McGrath murder trial and the fact that the forensic technology now exists to probe deeper into cases and possibly extract that vital clue that might lead to a breakthrough. Their hope that the SCRT squad will be able to at least shed some new light on the fate of their loved ones will be a sentiment shared by everyone. The eight-strong team already has been in contact with relatives of the 200+ victims, although Supt Mangan has stressed and acknowledged that it is very difficult for the families to revisit such a dark period in their lives. He is anxious not to raise false hopes but believes it is necessary to revisit these cases in the hope that a vital clue might now be within reach. Many will be familiar with the popular television drama series like CSI New York or CSI Miami which have tended the glamorise the work of forensic detectives. While the reality of the cold case detectives' work is often far from glamorous, these TV shows at least have led to a greater awareness and interest in forensic science and how it can be used to trap criminals. It is in DNA testing that the greatest breakthroughs have occurred, allowing suspects to be eliminated or implicated in cases at a rapid rate, speeding up the work of a murder team. Progress on unsolved murders from 10, 20 or even 30 years ago may well be slow and painstaking, particularly if evidence from the dim and distant past has not been handled or stored properly, but the McGrath murder case and another dating from 2002 - the conviction of murderer John Crerar who killed Phyllis Murphy in Kildare in 1979 - have shown that the passage of time is no longer a hiding place for the guilty. Within the next few years, continuing scientific advances will hopefully bring more closure for the families of Ireland's forgotten victims.