The Killing of Fr Niall Molloy

cap.in.hand.

I wonder what Therese flynns input was in the financial partnership....fr Molloy seemed to be the most knowledgeable with the horsey part of the partnership as regards show jumping competitions participation as can be seen from media pictures of him and maybe ... That included breeding, foaling,sales,stud fees..... obviously her/Richards home and her/Richards stables and her/Richards 60 acres of land around kilcoursey house for grazing/feed being the 'headquarters' was being used and would form a partnership as such but he seemed the boss and brains of it and HE was creating the profits for the partnership..... so in reality HE was the only one really investing the whole £24000 of the profits HE made for the 'partnership' on buying their land which in theory would then be his own land for his continuing equine hobby.... His own stud farm .... but on paper looks like he only invested £12000 based on the 'partnership' and this would be more critical for him if that full amount of his £24000 wouldn't/couldn't be paid back as the sale didn't complete it's finality as he probably was trusted it would.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117902595#Comment_117902595

So Richard and the son laid into Fr Molloy then? As Richard had bruised knuckles then he was definitely punching someone. Why then? Then would have known about any affair between the two as they were involved for such a long time together.

I think the son was involved, but possibly it was over money and the son got handsy when his parents got riled up by argument.

Gadgetman496

I think she killed him and became hysterical when she realised what she had done. Richard gave her a few thumps to try bring here to her senses, eventually had her sedated and brought to hospital in a bid to stop her incriminating herself. He initially decided to take the fall for her when first interviewed so as to take out any chance of her becoming a person of interest. Son got rid of whatever implement his mother used to strike the priest.

Case solved 😁

cap.in.hand.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117916769#Comment_117916769

I'd say it was the kilcoursey lands and stables that fr molloy was interested in having a affair with.

funkey_monkey

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117916884#Comment_117916884

Possibly, but she would have been seen by doctors and nurses who would have noticed and bruising due to Richard thumping her. She was a hard looking ticket, so I don't doubt it was in her but I still think the father/son done it and she freaked out watching it.

Gadgetman496

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117916998#Comment_117916998

A valid point too.

Spencer101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117917068#Comment_117917068

They got rid of her because she would undermine the way the evidence was to be presented and the story they presented. She didn't do anything of substance in the melee. Once she was gone they couldn't control what she said and who visited her but where Richard was to fall on her sword it was easy to then dismiss anything she said about some alternate story: she had been drinking, she took a sleeping tablet & she was then sedated.

tipptom

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117914761#Comment_117914761

i think he would have been fairly secure moneywise without the pension but would have still wanted his money back from the Flynns

I think the priesthood at that time was pretty much like society in that people like Fr Molloy would hold powerful friends in it and be probably be able to sway a pension anyway and he was allowed to do his job in his home town

Talisman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117916998#Comment_117916998

Theresa claimed to have suffered memory loss and blacked out around the time of the assault taking place. It's not uncommon for people that commit violent acts that would be considered out of character to suffer amnesia regarding the events. In January 2020, Deirdre Morley killed her children and was found hours later in a distressed state, she had no recollection of the events. She was later found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Amnesia for Violent Offenses: Factors Underlying Memory Loss and Recovery

Amnesia for violent offenses is common, but little is known about underlying causes or whether memory can recover. In this study, 50 violent offenders were interviewed with neuropsychological and psychometric measures, to determine the factors that underlie amnesia and the recovery of memory in these cases. The results showed that amnesia for a violent offense was associated with crimes of passion and dissociative symptoms at the time, but not with impaired neuropsychological functioning. Long amnesic gaps were associated with a state of dissociation surrounding the offense and with previous blackouts (whether alcoholic or dissociative). Memory often recovered, either partially or completely, especially where there was a history of blackouts or a lengthy amnesic gap. Brief amnesic gaps were likely to persist, perhaps as a consequence of faulty encoding during a period of extreme emotional arousal (or red-out).

Theresa being punched by her husband could possibly have been part of the plan to give their story some authenticity - a couple of truths to hide the lie. When Theresa said her husband had punched her she would have been telling the truth. If Richard had also punched Fr. Molloy several times to mask the injuries the priest suffered from being struck by an implement such as a statuette of a horse he would have been truthful in saying he did so. Saying it was because of who was supposed to go down stairs to get a drink was a little white lie, they'd hardly condemn you to hell for something like that.

The supposed argument about getting a drink was a lie, Richard Flynn had also claimed it was an argument about politics. He later denied having said there was an argument about politics. I think they were trying those lies on for size to see what stuck. He didn't sign the original statement given to the garda so that left wiggle room to manoeuvre afterwards.

Spencer101

The General's theft of the DPP's file led to 2 stories which I am not sure have ever been backed up elsewhere:

(a) The judge wrote to the DPP saying he knew the main parties to case;

(b) Fr. Molloy was hit by a statuette of a horse

The first claim is just wrong; the then DPP contradicted it as per McGinn report. Do not believe he was lying, nor that all of his staff from that time who are still alive would help a 'cover up'. That leads me to believe (b) is a tall tale spread by the Cahill family for reasons of their own.

Talisman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117931566#Comment_117931566

The broken coffee table and missing statuette were reported to the gardai in a statement given by one of the staff after the murder.

The Flynn story was that the table was broken by a child on the day of the wedding, another version of their story was that the table was broken by a child in the week before the wedding. From what we know those stories were never investigated. There was another story that Fr. Molloy had been pushed into the coffee table some days before the wedding and that is how it came to be broken.

The missing statuette was never explained but it was known about before the theft of the files from the DPP's office in 1987.

Spencer101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117932456#Comment_117932456

My mistake about the statuette- but is there any evidence Fr Molloy was struck with a statuette. Recent TV show is a few weeks ago now but tended to suggest he was kicked and punched only ?

lalababa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117893640#Comment_117893640

The simplest solution is nearest the truth.

cap.in.hand.

Primetime investigates has a fr Niall slot on next Tuesday evening

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119711200#Comment_119711200

They mentioned something about new evidence.

cap.in.hand.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119711215#Comment_119711215

They did...a book about his death has been recently published.

Seth Brundle

Very interesting! Looks like Richard Flynn did it out of jealousy/anger, if this is true...

https://www.independent.ie/news/new-evidence-uncovered-regarding-death-of-fr-niall-molloy-in-1985-42055618.html

the focus on that was all strange.

obviously yerman did it.

the rush to ensure that a lack of scandal was prioritised over a reasonable trial/investigation is surely more worthy of whether yerman thumped him three or six times.

cap.in.hand.

Mrs Flynn involvement in this story is as relevant as Richard flynn's...

Spencer101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119729093#Comment_119729093

Was money & the fact Mrs Flynn was having a long running emotional (seemingly rather than sexual) affair not intertwined ? Mr Flynn is brought into a conversation about money and the 20 year resentment at the priest boils over ?

Chiparus

Was Theresa Flynn involved with Molloy prior to her marriage ? I heard that they were , and that she rejected his proposal of marriage , and he joined the priesthood subsequently ?

Spencer101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119729206#Comment_119729206

General background material describes them as childhood friends. Fr Molloy presumably became a priest at the normal age - so there’s a few years where they may have been romantically involved

cap.in.hand.

Richard Flynn's situation regarding the fatal assualt and the background leading to it puts him in a better light following this programme piece on primetime

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119732568#Comment_119732568

Was the Indo story incorrect so?

cap.in.hand.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119732580#Comment_119732580

The indo had the same story I know... seeing it broadcast on TV has more of a impact I suppose

juno10353

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119732568#Comment_119732568

I must have watched different programme.

cap.in.hand.

While there is no doubt Richard flynn delivered the fatal blows and accepted he did ....he had to live with that for the rest of his life....but his relationship and marriage to Theresa Flynn must have been a sham to him as he wanted to end it numerous times... first time this was mentioned in documentary....those living arrangements must have made him feel like a spare tool in his own house.

Radio5

The legal advice to Richard Flynn was to say nothing more other than the initial 1-page statement and admit nothing else. They then went with self-defence at trial and there was no other witness to contradict it, Fr Molloy was dead and Mrs Flynn unable to remember what happened.

When the barrister, who was the top defence barrister in Ireland at the time, was questioning Dr Harbison, he was able to introduce uncertainty about the number of blows and a possibility of a heart condition and that muddied the waters just enough.

In the Ireland of 1985, Richard Flynn wasn't going to be advised by any lawyer to blacken the reputation of his wife and a dead Catholic priest in order to explain his anger and actions.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119734484#Comment_119734484

Its mad when you look at it today- Harbison had nailed the assessment of the damage to the body in his post mortem but how could he then admit that some of those blows could have happened via a “fall” - it really sounded like no one wanted this trial to go ahead - and as for the heart condition comment - I mean was none of this discussed with the prosecution pre trial ?

Xander10

Bottom line. The judge was friends with the family. Conflict of interest should never have been allowed