Patricia Doherty - Unsolved Murder - Dublin, Ireland
Dec 12, 2019 7:07:25 GMT
theravenking likes this
Post by hi224 on Dec 12, 2019 7:07:25 GMT
On the evening of 23rd December 1991, Patricia Doherty left her home in Tallaght, Dublin to do some last minute Christmas shopping. The following June, her body was found buried in a bog in the Dublin Mountains. No one has ever been arrested for her murder and, 28 years later, her murder remains unsolved.
Originally from Kerry, Patricia was living in Allenton Lawns in Tallaght with her husband and two children when she disappeared. She left her home on the evening of the 23rd December to travel to the nearby Square Shopping Centre, located about 3km from her home, to buy Santa hats for her children. This is the last time she was seen alive.
Her husband reported her missing to Gardaí on Christmas Day. Patricia worked as a prison officer in Mountjoy Prison and her husband thought she had gone to work when he did see her on Christmas Eve. The alarm was only raised when Patricia did not arrive at her mother’s house that evening as they had previously arranged.
It was only by chance that Patricia’s body was found on the 21st June, 1992. A period of dry weather caused the peat bank to subside, exposing her shallow grave off the Kilakee Road in the Dublin Mountains. Patricia had been strangled. She was identified by dental records and the rings she was wearing. Her house key was found nearby and she was still wearing her coat. Gardaí believe she was buried around the time she went missing in December of the previous year.
Gardaí have never publicly named a suspect or given any indication of a motive for her murder.
Theories
Patricia’s body was found less then a mile away from where Antoinette Smith’s body was discovered buried 4 years earlier. Antoinette’s murderer has also never been arrested. It's hard not to wonder if these two cases are related. Gardaí have never made any comment about a link between the two cases but considering the two women were a similar age, looked similar, were both strangled and were discovered buried extremely close to each other it would feel like a strange coincidence if they were not related.
One source has floated the idea that Graham Dwyer may have been involved with Patricia’s murder. In 2015, Dwyer was found guilty of the murder of Elaine O’Hara whose body was found near Kilakee in the Dublin Mountains in 2013. Elaine went missing in August of 2012. Originally from Cork, Dwyer moved to Dublin in the early 1990’s and would have been 19 at the time of Patricia’s murder. However, Dwyer seemed fascinated with stabbing a woman to death which does not match the cause of death in Patricia’s murder. Also, if Patricia’s murder is linked to the murder of Antoinette Smith, this would rule out Dwyer as a suspect as Antoinette was murdered before he moved to Dublin.
Another possible theory is that Patricia encountered or crossed someone in her job as a prison officer. However, she had only worked in Mountjoy Prison for 6 months before her disappearance. Before this she trained in Portlaoise Prison so she could possibly have crossed someone there but surely some evidence of this would have been found.
If you have any information relating to the murder of Patricia Doherty please contact the Serious Crime Review Team using the below contact details.
Email:[NBCI.SCRT@garda.ie](mailto:%20NBCI.SCRT@garda.ie?Subject=Doherty,%20Patricia)
Garda Confidential Line:1800 666 111
Crimestoppers:1800 250 025
Serious Crime Review Team Office:01 6663444
Sources:
Irish Times
Serious Crime Review Team
Originally from Kerry, Patricia was living in Allenton Lawns in Tallaght with her husband and two children when she disappeared. She left her home on the evening of the 23rd December to travel to the nearby Square Shopping Centre, located about 3km from her home, to buy Santa hats for her children. This is the last time she was seen alive.
Her husband reported her missing to Gardaí on Christmas Day. Patricia worked as a prison officer in Mountjoy Prison and her husband thought she had gone to work when he did see her on Christmas Eve. The alarm was only raised when Patricia did not arrive at her mother’s house that evening as they had previously arranged.
It was only by chance that Patricia’s body was found on the 21st June, 1992. A period of dry weather caused the peat bank to subside, exposing her shallow grave off the Kilakee Road in the Dublin Mountains. Patricia had been strangled. She was identified by dental records and the rings she was wearing. Her house key was found nearby and she was still wearing her coat. Gardaí believe she was buried around the time she went missing in December of the previous year.
Gardaí have never publicly named a suspect or given any indication of a motive for her murder.
Theories
Patricia’s body was found less then a mile away from where Antoinette Smith’s body was discovered buried 4 years earlier. Antoinette’s murderer has also never been arrested. It's hard not to wonder if these two cases are related. Gardaí have never made any comment about a link between the two cases but considering the two women were a similar age, looked similar, were both strangled and were discovered buried extremely close to each other it would feel like a strange coincidence if they were not related.
One source has floated the idea that Graham Dwyer may have been involved with Patricia’s murder. In 2015, Dwyer was found guilty of the murder of Elaine O’Hara whose body was found near Kilakee in the Dublin Mountains in 2013. Elaine went missing in August of 2012. Originally from Cork, Dwyer moved to Dublin in the early 1990’s and would have been 19 at the time of Patricia’s murder. However, Dwyer seemed fascinated with stabbing a woman to death which does not match the cause of death in Patricia’s murder. Also, if Patricia’s murder is linked to the murder of Antoinette Smith, this would rule out Dwyer as a suspect as Antoinette was murdered before he moved to Dublin.
Another possible theory is that Patricia encountered or crossed someone in her job as a prison officer. However, she had only worked in Mountjoy Prison for 6 months before her disappearance. Before this she trained in Portlaoise Prison so she could possibly have crossed someone there but surely some evidence of this would have been found.
If you have any information relating to the murder of Patricia Doherty please contact the Serious Crime Review Team using the below contact details.
Email:[NBCI.SCRT@garda.ie](mailto:%20NBCI.SCRT@garda.ie?Subject=Doherty,%20Patricia)
Garda Confidential Line:1800 666 111
Crimestoppers:1800 250 025
Serious Crime Review Team Office:01 6663444
Sources:
Irish Times
Serious Crime Review Team