Unsolved Irish Mysteries.

Its just everything we know now points at an amateur Garda investigation with unforgivable failure

Give some examples, I'd like to attempt to argue how what you call unforgivable failure could have a plausible explanation.

The media are saying this case is no closer to resolution. And it is notable that the Garda statement makes no mention of preparing a file for the DPP. 

https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/2024/11/13/jo-jo-dullard-murder-what-next-after-release-of-suspect-without-charge/

Did the Gardaí have new evidence or was his arrest on the anniversary just for show? If they had no specific information about where she was buried on that farm, they were looking for a needle in a haystack because, after 29 years, there would be no sign that the earth had been disturbed.

Lots of people think this investigation went nowhere because the suspect was protected politically but there could be a simple and commonplace explanation - he has an alibi. This is the reason Annie McCarrick's boyfriend, who has no political connection, has not been charged.

It appears that he gave her a lift from Kilcullen to Moone and this is confirmed by her phone call. It appears that he told Gardai that after he dropped her off in Moone, he continued his journey home to Grangecon. That means he should have arrived home about 11.45 pm. If anyone in the family home confirmed to the Gardai that he had arrived home at that time and didn't go out again, the investigation was at a dead end.

Of course, giving a false alibi is a crime and if someone gave a false alibi to a murderer, they are an accessory after the fact. But the suspect might persuade someone to give them a false alibi by claiming that they arrived home later for some reason that they would not want to admit e.g. if a married man had visited a lover.

One thing is clear - the whole country now knows who is the chief suspect. Talk of "presumption of innocence" will not remove that terrible shadow from him. My guess is that the cold case team are convinced that he is still lying about what happened that night.

He lied to Gardai the first time around until he changed his statement.

I have no reason to believe the Dullards are lying either.

I do agree that gross incompetence and a poor police force at the time when it came to investigating this type of crimes are more likely than corruption. I wouldnt rule that out either though.

Re. new evidence or if his arrest was just for show... In order to get the arrest warrant and to be able to search his land, there must have been new evidence or information

I'll throw it up. Its well documented and reported that he gave conflicting statements at the time. I'll post a link in a bit mate.

The examiner. 2005 ffs.

Mary phelan.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-10063732.html

The indo

https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/crime/chief-suspect-in-jo-jo-dullard-murder-had-deep-scratch-on-his-face-after-she-went-missing-in-1995/a1104499465.html

Well the car it's thought she might have gotten into the back of in Moone was supposedly dark coloured. The one where a bare footed woman is supposed to have attempted to escape from outside Waterford was supposedly red. So if it was her at both those cars, someone gave her a lift as far as Castledermot or perhaps further.....and never came forward.

It was possibly a carina. Its never been confirmed.

I think the waterford sighting is a red herring to be honest. The two guys who witnessed a naked woman running down the road in Moone, a tiny village, on the same night JoJo vanished is really chilling.

The two guys who witnessed a naked woman running down the road in Moone, a tiny village, on the same night JoJo vanished is really chilling.

But as likely to be a red herring as the barefoot girl in Waterford.

Listening to the reports the other day, the Gardaí seem convinced the current chief suspect is the killer but just can't prove it. They say for example that they don't believe Jo Jo was the victim of a serial killer.

Not necessarily- there needed to be sufficient evidence to issue a search warrant ( assuming the owner of the land did not agree). We don’t know if any search warrant was sought previously so it may be that the cold case review team just put together the existing evidence and convinced a judge to issue the warrant.

THe Garda searched the land atdifferent times previously. Maybe if they went serching within a couple of week they might have found an area to dig and search. However they probably needed more than an misleading statement to carry put such an operation.

After the two week ot would be searching for a needle in a haystack. How big is the area of land the Gardai think she is buried in even an acre is a substantial area to dig. How deep do you go, if it was virgin ground 2-3 foot deep would show you subsoil dusturbances. If it was slightly disturbed ground like drained land then you would need to go 5-6 maybe more to get under land drains. The material taken out would need to be reinstated properly but in that situation it would be multiple acres.

Around a yard you are at significantly disturbed ground depth of 8-10 feet in places, concrete yards sheds houses its a needle in a haystack

Nowadays the technology has changed they use digital ground imaging equipment first. Even with that its a needle in a haystack in a situation like thus. In serching for a few of the disappeared they have gone back a couple of time after more specific informed still cannot locate these bodies

Thanks for that.

Based on the more recent article it seems that some gardai thought his story changes were suspect and others thought them as not being malicious.

We have no idea what those changes were so we can't comment.

I said earlier than this was like the SDP case thread backwards.

In that case we know the prime suspect changed his story and we know what he changed it from and to, but an awful lot of people are willing to ignore that and give him a pass on it.

With regards to the scratch on his face, it was first brought to attention by a PI hired by the victims family.

That was a long time after the fact, we have no idea if that scratch was there before 9th Nov 1995 or was fresh when he first came forward or appeared after Nov 1995.

Unless the Gardai have more knowledge about, which they may have, it is of zero evidentiary value.

It's a real shame nothing has turned up in the dig this week.

All the optimism that was there early in the week with talk of new evidence and a very focused dig site has sadly evaporated.

Regarding Garda incompetency at the time, I would be of the view that a lot of the older (more experienced?) Gardai working on the case would have been 'schooled' by Courtney, O'Carroll and the likes. And we know how a lot of their cases panned out.

Alibis dont all have the same weight in an investigation.

Something along the lines of "my best mate says I was with him at the time....but I cant prove it other than his word" is very different to "I was on holidays in Australia on that date - here's my plane tickets and pics of me at the Sydney Opera House on the day of the murder..."