Hawe Inquests: “It was his writing, and I knew he had done something terrible”

Post-mortem evidence detailing findings of a possible “defensive” struggle was heard at the inquest into the deaths of Clodagh Hawe and her sons this afternoon.

Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis gave post-mortem evidence of all five deaths, which occurred at the family home in Castlerahan on August 29, 2016.

The body of Clodagh Hawe (nee Coll) was found lying face down on a sofa in the living room in her pyjamas and dressing gown. She had injuries to her head and neck, and two weapons were found nearby.

To the inquest, Dr Curtis read the conclusion of each post-mortem report into evidence, with Clodagh having suffered from penetrating wounds to her skull.

The bodies of Liam (14) and Niall (11) were found in separate single beds in one room upstairs, with that of Ryan (6) found in an adjacent bedroom. Another weapon was found on the pillow next to Ryan’s body. They had injuries to their necks, their duvets were pulled up, and there were no signs of life.

In the en-suite bedroom shared by the married couple, the inquest heard how jewellery boxes were found “neatly stacked” on the bed.

All three boys, Dr Curtis said, died as a result of wounds to the neck. There was an audible groan heard from some family members as details of the severity of the wounds were entered into evidence.

When asked by Dr Flanagan, Dr Curtis said he believed it was “not coincidental” the three boys suffered similar type wounds to their necks.

He added the belief that Mr Hawe killed his wife Clodagh, followed by eldest son Liam in order to avoid “possibility of physical challenge. But I can’t be certain of that.”

The body of husband and father Mr Hawe was also found at the family’s home at 3 Oakdene Downs, Barcony in Castlerahan. His body was discovered in the hallway. A “quantity” of black hair was also found nearby, according to one witness.

Dr Curtis said the cause of death in his case was by hanging.

The toxicology reports carried out on Mr Hawe’s body at time of post-mortem showed “negative” for intoxicants.

At the opening of the inquest at Cavan Courthouse, County Coroner Dr Mary Flanagan commented that this was a “particularly emotive” inquest. The hearing is expected to run for at least two days, hearing evidence from at least 12 individual witnesses.

The first witness is mother of Clodagh, Mary Coll.

Earlier, she told the inquest that, after raising the alarm and contacting gardai having found a note pinned to the inside of the backdoor saying “Don’t come in, call the gardaí”, she felt something “terrible” had happened. “It was his writing, and I knew he had done something terrible,” she told Dr Flanagan.

Clodagh’s mum, and grandmother to the three boys informed the inquest that, on the day before August 28, the Hawe family had visited her home at which time “everything seemed normal”.

Ms Coll, Clodagh and Mr Hawe had “tea and biscuits and were chatty” in the kitchen while the boys sat and watched television in the next room. Mr Hawe also began looking up the dates for the following year’s National Ploughing Championships.

The Hawe family left Ms Coll’s Virginia home at 8.40pm, with an arrangement that Clodagh would call by the following morning with Niall and Ryan, having first dropped Liam to school.

Before the family left, Ms Coll told the inquest how Mr Hawe had “thanked me for the goodies. That was the last time I saw them.”

On the morning of August 29, having been unable to make contact with either her daughter or Mr Hawe calling by phone or text, Ms Coll attended the house at Castlerahan. Initially she thought there may have been an accident with carbon monoxide, as there were still two cars in the driveway and the curtains drawn.

“It was unlike Clodagh not to contact me if she was going to be late,” said Mrs Coll who was accompanied at the hearing by daughter Jacqueline Connolly and other relatives.

Just before she was about to put the key in the door, she noticed a note taped to the inside of the door.

The depositions of local Gda Alan Radcliffe, Ballyjamesduff and Gda Aisling Walsh, Virginia, the first persons to enter the property were also read into evidence.

While describing finding the Hawe boys, Gda Walsh paused for a moment as she became visibly upset. Afterwards Dr Flanagan told her: “No one can imagine what it was like that morning."

In his own deposition Gda Radcliffe recalled entering the property and finding Clodagh’s body in the downstairs living room.

The depositions of members of the Garda Technical Bureau, including ballistic and handwriting experts was also heard.

Scene supervisior Det Sgt John Grant outlined how documents and a sealed note were found on the kitchen table. Evidence of how the handwriting on the documents, which included a handwritten note and a sealed three-page A4 letter, as well as the weapons found at the scene, were later analysed by garda forensics.

A bloodied partial “palm print” of Mr Hawe was discovered on the handle of one weapon as well as a handwritten note found at the Castlerahan home.

Fingerprint expert Det Gda Gerry meanwhile said he was in “no doubt” that marks found on one of the pages of the three-page handwritten letter were left by the left ring finger and left middle finger of Mr Hawe.

A writing sample expert also examined the documents. In all cases they were linked to Mr Hawe.

The deposition of Dr Rodney Lakes, read into evidence by Garda Superintendent Leo McGinn, detailed how DNA evidence belonging to Clodagh was found on the implement end of one weapon, while there was further DNA evidence found elsewhere that matched with the clothing Mr Hawe was found wearing.

Checked against databases, the opportunity for a deviation in the sampling was estimated by Dr Lates as being “one in 100 million”.

The bodies of all five members of the Hawe family were identified by Gerry McDermott, Clodagh's uncle-in-law.

A total of 12 witnesses were heard from in the first day of the inquest hearing, with three more set appear tomorrow, Tuesday, December 19.

Relatives of the families comforted each other as they listened to the evidence.

Mr Hawe was the vice-principal of Castlerahan National School and the family were heavily involved in the local community.

Clodagh was originally from the nearby village of Mount Nugent and taught at Oristown National School near Kells in Co Meath.

The body of Mr Hawe, originally from Kilkenny, was earlier this year exhumed from the family grave at St Mary’s Church in Castlerahan to be cremated.

 

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