Murder at the Cottage | Sky

Peculiar then, that people can have such strong opinions regarding the guilt of someone for whom there is no evidence of their presence at the scene.

There have been lots of cases solved where no trace of the killer was at the scene, or even like the Graham Dwyer case where it sounds like they aren't entirely sure where the exact scene of the murder is. Bodies get moved, remains are found years later in shallow graves etc.

So were Bailey's "confessions" made before or after he was named as a suspect? Before or after he was arrested?

Anyone?

"12.5.6 The first matter of concern was the view taken of a statement made by a Detective Garda Gamma, who was involved in interviewing Ms Jules Thomas during her detention on 10 February 1997. In a handwritten statement dated 11 February 1997, the Detective Garda gave an account of the matters discussed during the interview. He also offered his own view regarding the truthfulness of Ms Thomas’ evidence on that occasion, stating:

“In my opinion she was trying to recollect to the best of her knowledge her movements and those of Ian over that weekend.”

12.5.7 On the morning of 23 June 1997, Detective Sergeant Alpha telephoned another member of the investigation team, Detective Garda Delta. They discussed the general difficulties facing the Detective Sergeant whilst writing the report. Detective Sergeant Alpha then appears to have raised the subject of the statement made by Detective Garda Gamma regarding Ms Thomas in February 1997, as the following extract shows: 

Detective Sergeant Alpha: Okay, yeah. I need to talk to you about, em, your colleague’s statement of evidence. I need him to...but I’ll talk to you first...I just want...

Detective Garda Delta: Yeah.

Detective Sergeant Alpha: I need to talk about it anyway.

Detective Garda Delta: The most honest man.

Detective Sergeant Alpha: Yeah.

Detective Garda Delta: (laughs)

Detective Sergeant Alpha: (laughs) He has comments in it like “I knew she was making every effort to tell me the truth.” Do you follow?

Detective Garda Delta: Yes.

Detective Sergeant Alpha: I don’t need them, for starters.

Detective Garda Delta: (laughs)

Detective Sergeant Alpha: **** it, she wasn’t anyway.

12.5.8 At around 5 pm, in a further telephone conversation between the same officers, Detective Sergeant Alpha stated: 

“Ah **** it, it’s awful. When I see your friend then, like writing them stupid **** statements, like I mean... what man... “I believe” he says “that she was doing her best to recall the night in question and being truthful.”

He continued: 

*“Yes, that statement has to get **** chopped up anyway.”*

12.5.9 Further on in the same conversation, having discussed other, unrelated matters, the following exchange takes place: 

Detective Sergeant Alpha: And you can start building up your co-partner, if you’re able to do that, or maybe I should just do it meself to –

Detective Garda Delta: Well, the thing about it is this ... it will have to be explained to him like, that that is the way – I mean surely he can see it in hindsight now that Jules is very devious.

Detective Sergeant Alpha: That statement is very damaging to have in there – I mean it’s not – it’s not – it doesn’t do himself any good anyway.

Detective Garda Delta: No.

12.5.10 Later that evening at around 10.30 pm, Detective Sergeant Alpha made a telephone call requesting to speak to Detective Garda Gamma “about the statements” and was informed that he was not there, to which the Detective Sergeant replied “Ah, I’ll get him so in a day or two.” Detective Sergeant Alpha was then put on to Detective Garda Delta and they had a further conversation about Detective Garda Gamma’s statement, in the course of which Detective Sergeant Alpha said “Like ... ifI’m trying to make a play out of these things, to have him, **** then, turn around and say she wastelling me the truth.” 

12.5.11 In a recorded conversation on 25 June 1997 with an unidentified member of An Garda 

Síochána, Detective Sergeant Alpha again referred to his difficulties with the positive opinion of Ms Thomas expressed by Detective Garda Gamma in his statement of 11 

February 1997. He said: 

“But you see there are statements here that I have to go back to fill it in, I have to talk to them, one man put in here: ‘I believe she was attempting to tell me the truth and trying to recall’ - you know, yer man interviewing her like, when the evidence clearly shows and everything we were doing that she is anything but, she has been out there working, conniving, twisting.” 

12.5.12 The other participant responded by stating, “That is not **** evidence.” Detective Sergeant Alpha then said: “I know but it is in the statement, it has to be taken **** out.”

12.5.13 The other participant in the call then discussed how best to approach the Garda who had made the problematic statement and the contents of his statement: 

“Then you have to go, to handle these fellas they get indignant, you have to be careful with them, and so you better get it taken out without hurting feelings type of thing.”

12.5.14 The Commission could not pursue the matter further with Detective Sergeant Alpha, who is deceased, or with Detective Garda Gamma, who was unable to provide evidence due to illness. It is possible that the matter was discussed between the two officers at some stage, but, as there are no recorded calls available for the period 26 June-21 September 1997, this cannot be established one way or the other.

12.5.15 The Commission notes that, in other recorded telephone conversations around this time, 

Detective Sergeant Alpha, who was engaged in preparing the investigation report for the DPP, expressed some concerns about the overall strength of the case being made against Mr Bailey as it then stood. In a telephone call on 17 June 1997, he described it as “a very 50/50 case against your man and I’m trying to make something of it, you see”. He went on to state

Also worthy of note that the vast majority of the tapes from Bandon Garda Station were destroyed in a flood and only a very small sample remained.

Lord knows what they were saying on the destroyed ones.

You can quote this as many times as you want, it doesn't change the fact that the file the gardai sent to the DPP (years before the tapes were discovered) still had the statement they were complaining about in it. Where is the actual corruption?

I've never considered that the murder might have happened in the morning after she's had breakfast. Loaf or bread could mean anything, but coffee or tea would be a good indication, after all one doesn't drink that before going to bed. However nothing in the kitchen would seem to indicate she had eaten breakfast, at least as I know.

However If the murder has taken place in the morning, it would still have to have been dark. I would suspect that daylight would only have come at 9 am at that day of December? It would have to have been around 7 or 8am at the latest that morning. I simply can't imagine the murderer bashing her head in in broad daylight.

That's not true Thompsonette. Bailey was arrested on Feb. 10th 1997.

Bill Fuller said their conversation in which Bailey appeared to give an account of how the murder happened was in late January 1997.

Malachi Reed got a lift from Ian Bailey on Feb. 4th, he said Ian told him 'Everything was going fine until I went up there with a rock and bashed her f* brains in'.

Helen Callanan rang him while he was still reporting on the case for the Sunday Tribune, this was before he was arrested.

The question was whether the 'confessions' were before or after he was arrested or named as a suspect, the examples I gave were all before he was arrested or named as a suspect. You said they were after. Clearly you are in the wrong here.

And did they pre-date a statement?

I saw a Guardian quote that 'neighbours heard wild cries in the night' but put it down to foxes. May go against ab early morning death?

Which 'neighbours', other than Alfie + Shirley the next nearest 'neighbours' were a mile away.

"12.5.39 It needs to be said at this point that, in the event, it was found to be unnecessary to take any statement from Mr A as Garda Epsilon was able to persuade Mr C not to pursue his assault complaint. Thus the question of pre-dating such a statement or inserting into it a possibly untrue allegation that Mr C threw the first punch never arose.

What is disturbing, however, is that suggestions could be made between two members of An Garda Síochána, without objection, that evidence could be slanted or falsified in these ways."