Joseph O’Shaughnessy, retired detective sergeant
Joseph: With a case like this, the first thing you’d do is set up jobs in order to track the movements of the deceased in the hours before death. Who they were with and where, what time, et cetera. After that, we spread the net wider in the victim’s life, talking to their friends and family. You’re trying to forensically take their life apart, in a way, to see if anything, or anyone, flags as suspicious. When there’s so little DNA evidence, you’re depending on witness statements, but witnesses are subjective, like. Their memories can be frail, and their recollections can be coloured by an agenda – you’d want to be mindful of that. Some might believe they’re telling you the truth, but what they think they remember isn’t actually what they saw. But all the same, usually there’ll be a few witness statements that catch our attention. From there, you’ll compile a list of persons of interest.
Noah: Who were the persons of interest in the Misty Hill case?
Joseph: I can’t be naming any names now, but in a case similar to that one, there could be people who might point the finger at another party guest. A man who was a friend of the host’s and was flirting with the victim, ‘had his hands all over her’, one witness said. A man like that, he mightn’t be the sort to take rejection lightly.
Jake: Are you talking about Miles Darcy?
Joseph: Jesus, lad, I’m not talking about anyone in particular here now. I’m just talking in general, d’you get me? No one was charged for Nessa Crowley’s murder, were they?
Jake: OK. If this ‘friend’ was ruled out, where would you look next?
Joseph: Hypothetically now, the guards might decide that a young man who was friendly with the deceased could be an interesting prospect. A possible motive to be found there, if you were looking for one – if he was in love with the victim but found out the stepfather was sleeping with her, betraying the mother too. But you know, if there happened to be multiple witnesses who saw that young man unconscious in bed at the time of the murder, then the gardaí would have to look further afield, wouldn’t they? Hypothetically speaking, like.
Noah: That leaves Keelin and Henry. Was Keelin ever a proper suspect?
Joseph: Lookit, I wouldn’t be the one to confirm or deny that. That wouldn’t be in my gift at all. But I will say if I was investigating a case and it was similar to the one you’re mentioning, then I suppose the wife could be a suspect. As a guard, you’d be looking for a motive – her husband was having an affair, she was jealous, she wanted the young wan out of the way. That kind of thing. You’d have to be checking if she had a decent alibi.
Noah: Keelin didn’t – sorry. What happens if ‘the wife’ doesn’t have an alibi?
Joseph: I’d be looking at a few factors. Physical strength for one; was the wife capable of delivering a blow like that? And if she wasn’t, then who was? Was anyone behaving in an odd manner? Doing things like, I don’t know, lighting a bonfire in the middle of a storm. That might be seen as strange behaviour, couldn’t it? Deleting text messages and emails. Scratches and bruises, that kind of thing.
Noah: It’s all circumstantial evidence though. The DPP said it wasn’t enough to convict Henry Kinsella.
Joseph: You’re right, lad. So a guard would then be looking at motive and alibi. With many of these cases, the alibi given is the wife, and that doesn’t amount to much if she’s a suspect too.
Jake: And motive? Maria Crowley told us Nessa went to the party that night to tell Henry she was pregnant, but the autopsy didn’t find any signs of pregnancy, did it?
Joseph: No. And I can’t talk about the specifics of this particular case, obviously, but if I was a guessing man, I would say there are two reasons a young girl might tell her boyfriend she was pregnant when she was not: a) she was mistaken due to her, eh, monthlies being late, or b) she was trying to force someone’s hand. What do you think a man would do if he heard news like that? If he was desperate, like? But as you said, this is all conjecture! Henry Kinsella is an innocent man in the eyes of the law and that’s that.
Noah: What do you think, personally?
Joseph: It doesn’t matter what I think personally – that’s not what being a detective is about. It’s about the facts. I will say one thing to you now though . . . I was a guard for a long time and I’ve learned to trust my instincts. When we bring a person in for questioning, we watch them carefully. You might have one person who’s distraught. She can barely speak, she’s in such a state of shock. I’ve seen enough throughout the years to know when that’s genuine. But sometimes you’ll get someone and the way they react is . . . unusual, d’you get me? They seem to be almost enjoying the whole thing. Such a person might fit the profile – narcissistic, lacking in empathy, unnaturally calm. I retired only two years ago –
Noah: Congratulations.
Joseph: Thanks, lad. So, yeah, I’m retired, but there are some cases that never leave you, and Nessa Crowley’s murder is one of them. (coughs) It haunts me.
Noah: Not just you, Mr O’Shaughnessy. Everyone I’ve spoken to during my time in Ireland is obsessed by this case. They all want to know what happened to the Crowley Girl.
Joseph: It’s funny. Young women go missing in Ireland all the time. Some of them turn up dead, others are never found. You never know which cases are going to take a hold of the country’s imagination. Which girls will be the ones we decide we’re all going to care about, like.
Jake: I suppose it helps if they’re white, right?
Joseph: I don’t know about that, lad. But it definitely helps if they’re good looking.
Noah: Which Nessa Crowley was.
Joseph: Yes. Which Nessa Crowley was indeed.