Woman to appear in court in connection with Sheelin island murders

Bodies of Eoin O'Connor and Anthony Keegan found in shallow grave in May 2014

A 42-year-old woman, who is being extradited, is expected to appear before a district court later today charged in connection with a double murder on Sheelin island on the Cavan/Meath Border nine years ago.

Gardaí confirmed to The Anglo-Celt this afternoon: "An Garda Síochána is aware of the arrest of a female in South Africa on foot of an international arrest warrant.

"An Garda Síochána will not be commenting further at this time."

The bodies of friends Eoin O'Connor (32) and Anthony Keegan (33), both from Coolock in Co Dublin, were found on Inchicup Island on Lough Sheelin on May 26, 2014.

Mr O'Connor and Mr Keegan were last seen alive on March 22, 2014.

The men had travelled to together to the Cavan area in a silver Ford Focus car registration 04 D 46380, which was subsequently found abandoned at a scenic view point over Lough Owell near Mullingar.

Their families reported them missing to gardaí a month later.

Extensive searches were carried out along the Cavan/Meath border, but following a report from a local fisherman, the men's bodies were discovered on the small island of Lough Sheelin.

They were found wrapped in plastic sheeting and buried in a shallow grave.

Both men had been shot dead.

Gardaí began a murder investigation and last year secured an Interpol warrant for Ms Lawrence, who was living in South Africa.

She was arrested in October of last year in an area called Pellissier, in Bloemfontein, one of South Africa's three capital cities and has been in police custody since.

RTÉ news is reporting that officers from Interpol and the Garda Extradition Section travelled to South Africa and are currently escorting her back to Ireland.

It's understood that Ms Lawrence will be taken to a garda station and charged.

It's expected she will be brought before a sitting of the district court in Co Meath where the alleged offences took place.

This newspaper previously reported that Ms Lawrence fled the country with her former partner, Neville Peter Van Westhuizen, a native of South Africa.

Van Westhuizen (39), is also wanted in connection with the investigation into the killings. He is already serving a life sentence of 15 years in a South African jail for the killing of a teenager in 2017.

Van Westhuizen had lived in the Cavan town area, as well in the Ballyjamesduff area for a period prior to his disappearance.

A number of arrests have been carried out to date in relation to the ongoing investigation into the murders of best friends Messrs O’Connor and Keegan.

However no one has ever been charged in connection with the murders.