The Irish Book Review

Although frequently shaken by murders that hit the headlines, the public soon return to normal life. But what happens to the victim’s family when they try to get back to normality after such a trauma? Yvonne Kinsella interviews the often forgotten parents, brothers, sisters, husbands and wives who struggle with the life sentence that is, living with murder. All of the eight cases under the spotlight will be well known to the public as each one shocked the nation.

Yvonne Kinsella interviews family members of the following murder victims:

Sheola Keaney: Three years ago this month (16 July) the strangled body of 20 year Sheola was discovered in the undergrowth after she left a party to meet her troubled ex-boyfriend. Her father, Peter Keaney, recalls his smart, bubbly daughter who had plans to travel the world. He still struggles with the knowledge that her murderer searched alongside him for Sheola’s missing body. He feels that the court favours the offender and even thinks the death penalty should be brought back in some cases, ‘a life for life’.

Anthony Campbell: This hardworking young plumber was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Caught in the crossfire of a gangland assassination, Anthony paid with his life. His Mum, Christine Campbell, remembers when, just days before Christmas in 2006, she heard she’d lost her son. She still struggles to accept what happened and copes by seeing a counsellor once a week and working constantly so she doesn’t have time to think about her loss. ‘I lived for Anthony…(when a child dies) you bury your future...there’s no future for me now.’

Donna Cleary: Kathleen and Peter Cleary are starting out as parents all over again since their daughter was the victim of a random shooting at a house party. Their grandson, five-year-old Clayton, still asks ‘when is Mammy coming home?’ They remember the night their lives were destroyed forever. Donna’s Dad has suffered serious health problems since his daughter’s death and, though they wouldn’t have it any other way, the couple struggle with being full-time parents again at a time they thought they’d be beginning to relax and enjoy life.

Edward Ward: Jody Ward was just yards away when her husband became an innocent victim of a gangland hit. He left behind two young daughters and his adoring wife. Jody never planned on being a single parent and is devastated by persistent rumours that her hard-working husband was somehow involved in the criminal underworld.

Jeffrey Hannan: Jeffrey Hannan’s family recently left Limerick’s notorious O’Malley Park, no longer able to look out the window at the spot where their son’s battered, lifeless body was dumped in a field. Geraldine and Alan have been left to raise Jeffrey’s two young children while constantly worrying that a similar fate might meet their remaining son and daughter. ‘We just try and get through every day...the future means nothing right now.’

Emer O’Loughlin: When Emer O’Loughlin’s family went to the morgue all that was left of their beloved daughter and sister was a small bag of remains. They were discovered in the ashes of a caravan blaze in Co. Clare. The family still believe that the man suspected of her murder staged his suicide and now wanders free while they struggle with thoughts of how Emer might have suffered before her death. The author talks to Emer’s fiancé, Shane, a prime suspect at the time of her death, and to her sister Pam.

The Dunne Family: The subject of the recent Monageer Report, this case of familicide shocked the nation. In a rare interview the Dunne family talk about how they still don’t believe that Adrian Dunne could have been responsible for the death of his young family.

Brian Stack: Brian Stack will be remembered as the only Prison Officer to have been murdered back in 1983. At the time of his death a rumour was circulating that a staff member at Portlaoise prison was on the pay-roll of the IRA and that Brian Stack was on to him. Many believe that this is why Brian was assassinated but over twenty-five years later his family still don’t have any answers. The author talks to Brian’s wife and two children who recall how they suffered after Brian was first left paralysed and brain damaged to the extent that he had the intellect of a five year old, before dying eighteen months later.

Living with Murder: Families Left Behind is expected mid-August 2009. For more information, contact The Irish Book Review