00:05
On a crisp December afternoon, a man walks a lonely beach on Ireland's west coast.
00:12
In his hand, he carries a rifle.
00:14
He's out hunting.
00:16
He walks with his dog, a Cocker Spaniel.
00:19
The man walks among the rocks and sand in a corner of this beach, and a corner of Ireland rarely visited by outsiders.
00:28
This is a place known by few who do not come from this part of the world.
00:33
It's a hard place to find. You can easily become lost if you try to make your way here without knowing the intricate web of countryside boreens that's around it.
00:43
The tide is drifting out. The ocean is retreating as the sun prepares to set.
00:49
The soft waves rush up to the shore and then fade into the damp sand before they fall back again.
00:56
The man looks along the beach and sees something.
00:59
A person lying there near the rocks.
01:03
They're not moving.
01:05
It is a young girl.
01:07
He calls out to her. Unwiltu, all right?
01:11
Are you all right?
01:13
There is no reply.
01:29
Thank you.
01:37
When someone is killed in Ireland, the Gardaí call in a specialist unit of forensic crime scene examiners from the Garda Technical Bureau.
01:45
This is Ireland's real-life version of CSI, but it's nothing like the movies or TV shows.
01:52
For 25 years, I was one of the detectives on that team.
01:56
My name is John Sweetman.
01:59
My job as a guarded detective in the technical bureau was to read the evidence that could not speak for itself.
02:05
I learned to see what others might miss.
02:08
Fingerprints smudged on the handle of a door. Weapons disguised in everyday objects.
02:14
Handwritten notes that revealed more than the writer ever intended.
02:18
The smallest traces often unravel the big story.
02:22
And now, I'm here to tell you those stories.
02:26
In this podcast from Go Loud, I take you inside some of Ireland's most haunting investigations.
02:32
This is Lines of Inquiry, a Go Loud original podcast that follows the evidence step by step and tries to uncover the real story behind the headlines.
02:43
In this episode, a remote and isolated community is scarred by the tragic death of a 17-year-old girl.
02:50
This is Siobhan Hines, The Missing Hour.
03:03
The western coastline of Ireland is known for the frothy white waves of the Atlantic, the sheer cliffs and rocky outposts where the land gives way to the sea, and the soft, sandy beaches dotted with seaweed.
03:16
Among these beaches, Tra Undólin in Connemara stands out.
03:22
Instead of fine sand, the beach is made up of small shards of calcified seaweed, which crunches underfoot like small fragments of coral.
03:32
The beach sits on the western side of the Carrebro Peninsula, and looking out from the shore you can see the nearby village of Lettermoor, and on a fine day the rust-red sails of a traditional Galway hooker might float along the crystal waters.
03:48
The beach shares its name with the nearby Ostan on Dolin, a small hotel which, back in 1998, was known for its Saturday night discos.
03:58
Carrow Row had a population of just 242 people at the time, but the hotel catered to the young people from all the nearby Galetok villages.
04:08
The disco was busy on the 5th of December 1998. The Christmas festivities were just beginning.
04:15
It was a crisp night with a full moon, the sky blanketed with stars in the way only found in the most remote places.
04:23
A couple spilled out of Austan and Dolin into the chilled night air.
04:29
There was a third man with them, a stocky, blonde man in his twenties.
04:34
He was an angry ex-boyfriend who had started to get violent.
04:38
He hit the woman around the back of the head and then turned towards her new boyfriend and punched him too.
04:45
The Gardaí were called and warned the man that he needed to calm down.
04:51
At 12.34am, the guards saw him again. He was sitting on the wall opposite the hotel.
04:58
They rolled down the window of the squad car and shouted out to him in Irish, the language of the area.
05:04
Go awalje.
05:05
Go home.
05:07
It's a free fucking country, he shouted back.
05:10
He did not go home, and around half two that night, the same man got into another fight.
05:19
The same night, 19-year-old Anya Hines was home from college and had gone out with her friends and her younger sister Siobhan in their local pub in Lettermoor.
05:30
Siobhan asked her friends if they would drop Anya to Carrowrow, 15 kilometres away, to the nightclub in Ostan on Dolan.
05:38
Siobhan would comfort the spin, she said, knowing that at just 17 she was too young and wouldn't be let into the nightclub.
05:47
She was dressed in a petrol blue fleece and a wine-red polo neck jumper.
05:53
Around her neck she wore a silver locket.
05:57
Anya and her friends got a hackney cab home between 3am and 4am and crawled into bed tired from their night out.
06:05
The next morning, Anya was woken by her mother, Breed.
06:09
Breed hadn't heard her daughters coming in the night before.
06:13
She had checked Siobhan's room first.
06:16
Her bed was untouched.
06:19
Breed panicked.
06:21
She woke Anya and asked if she'd seen her sister.
06:25
Anya replied that she probably stayed with a friend, but she knew the rule was that if you were staying with a friend, you'd call home first.
06:35
From her bedroom, Anya could hear her mother ringing around looking for Siobhan.
06:41
She thought to herself, there's something wrong here.
06:47
Siobhan was close with her mother breed, so close that her sisters used to tease their mother about it and call Siobhan her pet.
06:56
She was a quiet girl, but when she was in the car with her mother, Siobhan would begin to open up and share her secrets.
07:04
Just a week past her 17th birthday, Siobhan was in her final year of secondary school, and when she came home she would find a release from the stress of exams by playing songs off the radio on her keyboard.
07:18
She was creative too and usually at this time of year in the run up to Christmas she would be the one putting up the Christmas tree and decorating it with ribbons and fancy boxes.
07:29
She decided she had to raise the alarm.
07:33
She called the Gardaí to report her daughter missing.
07:37
Andy, Siobhan's father, got into the car with Siobhan's two sisters, and together they drove along the jagged coastline of Littermoor and across the barren landscape of Connemara, searching and scanning every spot for her.
07:52
They would continue to search for her in Carrow Row.
07:56
As he drove past the post office in the town, Andy spotted a gang of girls, three of them.
08:02
They were standing chatting.
08:05
One girl had her back to Andy, but she looked just like Siobhan.
08:10
Relieved, he pulled the car over.
08:13
He told his daughter Fiona to hop out and to tell her sister that half the country was looking for her.
08:20
Then the girl turned around.
08:23
It was not Siobhan.
08:25
Their search would have to continue.
08:34
Thank you.
08:55
It's easy to store, simple to serve, and backed by a 96% digestibility rate. Treat your dog to food that actually makes them feel great. Visit butternutbox.com forward slash lines of inquiry and use the code lines of inquiry to grab 50% off your first two boxes. Thanks again to our partners, Butternut Box, for coming on board. Now, back to the podcast.
09:22
About two kilometres from the village of Kararoa lies Tishman Beach.
09:27
There are two routes to the beach, the one most often favoured by people heading towards the ocean's edge, and one a little less well-known, which leads to a quiet and more hidden part of the beach.
09:40
That part of the beach is the kind of place only used by those people intimately familiar with the landscape.
09:47
A place almost hidden away, where only some can find their way to, or back from.
09:55
Around 3.20pm on Sunday the 6th of December, a local man named Tommy Kelly was out hunting with his cocker spaniel in this isolated, silent corner of the beach.
10:06
Tommy had his rifle in his hand as he made his way across the rocky terrain.
10:12
The tide was washing out.
10:14
Cold white waves were lapping at the sandy shore, each one revealing more and more of the beach as the sea retreated.
10:23
Tommy spotted a young girl down near a small inlet.
10:28
The day was cold, with a bitter wind whipping in off the sea, yet this girl was lying on the rocks below the high water line.
10:37
Unwill too all right, he called out to the girl.
10:41
Are you all right, he called out again when there was no reply.
10:46
Tommy realised something was very wrong and took off running towards Carrow Row.
10:57
In the village, Andy Hines had looked everywhere for his daughter, but Siobhan was nowhere to be found.
11:04
He was driving down the main street of Carraro, about to head home, when his sister-in-law flagged down the car.
11:11
She asked Andy to step out.
11:15
Anya stayed in the car.
11:17
She looked out at her father and aunt in the rear-view mirror.
11:21
There was another man standing with them.
11:24
Anya recognised him.
11:27
the local priest.
11:29
He was talking to Andy.
11:32
As Anya watched, her father fell to his knees.
11:42
Andy and Anya headed down to the beach a few kilometres outside Carrero.
11:47
Anya was shaking.
11:49
A woman on the beach handed her a jumper to keep warm.
11:53
Andy stepped closer towards the sea.
11:57
He saw his daughter lying there on the cold craggy rocks.
12:02
Her feet were facing towards the ocean, caught on a rock edge.
12:07
Her right cheek rested on a stone smoothed by years of erosion.
12:12
Her hand rested on her pelvis.
12:16
She lay on her side and her jeans were dark with blood.
12:22
He identified his daughter's body.
12:25
The guardie on duty had to act quickly to move her body before the tide turned and swept her out to sea.
12:32
Siobhan was taken away for a post-mortem.
12:36
Anya raced home with her aunt and the parish priest to her mother.
12:40
Breed had stayed behind to be near the phone in case Siobhan called home, or if anyone else called with news of their seventeen-year-old daughter.
12:50
When Breed saw the three of them arrive, she knew something must be wrong.
12:56
They broke the news to Breed.
12:59
Siobhan had been found.
13:02
Her daughter was dead.
13:06
Breed's first thought was to wonder had her quiet, creative daughter died by suicide.
13:12
The reality would prove to be much worse.
13:17
State pathologist Dr. Mary Cassidy found seven cuts and bruises on Siobhan's face.
13:23
She found seawater in her lungs.
13:26
It was likely Siobhan was already unconscious before the water rose around her.
13:32
the bones in her throat were fractured, perhaps from strangulation or some sort of restraint.
13:40
Siobhan had been raped using an unknown object.
13:44
Within hours, what had began as a missing person's inquiry became a murder investigation.
13:52
Garda Superintendent Jim Sugrew visited the Hines house after Siobhan's body was found.
13:58
He did his best to offer what little comfort he could to the grieving family.
14:04
Later, as he stepped out into the cold December air and closed the door behind him, he said to himself, If it takes to my last breath, I will find out who committed this murder.
14:31
Breed Hines struggled to accept the news that her beautiful and creative daughter was gone.
14:37
She was in shock.
14:38
Friends and neighbours of the family called to the house to offer whatever support they could.
14:43
Each time someone new arrived, Breed thought one of them might be able to bring Siobhan back.
14:51
Sympathy and mass cards were placed next to Siobhan's birthday cards from the previous week.
14:58
The President of Ireland, Mary MacAleese, sent a personalised message of sympathy to the family.
15:05
Siobhan's room, decorated with blur and oasis posters, remained untouched.
15:12
In the small community of Littermoor, Siobhan's hometown, her loss was felt deeply.
15:19
Her schoolmates came together for a special mass in Siobhan's memory instead of sitting in a classroom studying for upcoming exams.
15:27
Breed would later recall how in the tight-knit village, if one person is hurting, the whole community is hurting.
15:38
The other young girls in the area were frightened by what had happened. They didn't want to go out alone.
15:44
Across Galway, there were concerns that Siobhan's death was part of a rising trend.
15:50
There had been an average of one murder per ten weeks across the county in 1997 and 1998.
15:57
In such a small community, having such a violent offender in their midst was a disturbing concept.
16:04
It was an idea that spread fear to every corner.
16:10
At first, Gardie considered the murder may have been committed by a tourist.
16:14
Connemara is a popular destination for visitors looking to absorb the Irish landscape.
16:20
They're attracted by the harsh, barren mountains dotted with sheep, the small cottages nestled in between boggy valleys, and the coastline, the islands and peninsulas jutting out into the Atlantic.
16:34
The beach where Siobhan's body was found looks out towards the Aran Islands and offers spectacular views for tourists and locals alike.
16:44
Most visitors to the area accessed the beach by passing down a narrow road leaving the village.
16:50
They would pass by the local GAA pitch, decorated with their teams black and red.
16:56
Carraro had had a lot of football success that year.
17:00
Local man Sean Ogue de Power won an All-Star Award for his role leading Galway to All-Ireland victory, and the senior men's team had gone all the way to the county final that November, a time of great celebration and pride for a small town.
17:16
Beyond the tall walls enclosing the GAA pitch, the road begins to narrow.
17:22
Grass grows down the middle.
17:24
Granite and limestone boulders balance precariously to divide boundaries between isolated houses and farmland.
17:32
Then, after around two kilometres straight down the Boreen, the horizon appears, and there at the end of the road lies the small, sandy Tishmon beach.
17:44
But there is another route to the beach.
17:47
One only locals know.
17:49
A difficult journey for the unfamiliar. A poorly unkept road.
17:55
It's easy to miss the turn to the village and there are very few spots to pull in should you meet another car.
18:02
It leads to a remote and rocky coastline.
18:05
It was here, among the craggy rocks, weather-beaten and sharpened by erosion from the sea, that Siobhan's body was found.
18:14
Not on the soft sand.
18:17
This alone had given Gardie another theory to examine.
18:21
Was it possible that Siobhan's killer was from within the tight-knit community?
18:27
Gardie considered a suggestion.
18:29
After all, in the harsh winter weather, the tourism trade peters out and locals would have noticed a stranger around the village.
18:40
Led by Superintendent Jim Sugru, Gardie began to piece together Siobhan's last known movements.
18:47
Breed recalled her daughters leaving their home in Littermoor that night.
18:52
Her parting message to them was, don't be late and be careful.
18:57
The girls headed to the local pub in Littermoor, T. Plunkett, where Siobhan got chatting to some of her friends.
19:04
She asked them if they would drop Anya to Carrow Row.
19:07
There was a function on and there was a disco in the Ostan and Doleen Hotel.
19:13
The place would be thronged with people from across Connemara.
19:18
Around half eleven, the group headed off to make the ten-kilometre journey to Carrow in Michael Coyne's Red Nissan.
19:26
Siobhan told them that she would come along for the spin.
19:30
A kind sister who was focused on organising a lift for Anya.
19:35
When they arrived, the gang hopped out. Anya called out to Siobhan.
19:40
Goodbye. See you later. Thanks.
19:44
John Paul Connolly was a friend of Siobhan's and the two decided that they would stay back in the car together listening to music.
19:52
Like many of her peers growing up in the 90s, Siobhan loved Blur, Alanis Morissette and the Spice Girls.
19:59
Siobhan sat in the front seat with the tapes while John Paul sat in the back.
20:04
John Paul would later remember he noticed a blonde man walk past the car and stare in the window.
20:11
After a while, Siobhan decided to head towards a local pub. She needed to use the toilet.
20:18
But being only 17, the pub refused to let her in, so she made her way back to the car.
20:24
She told John Paul she had met that weirdo John McDonough, referring to a local man they knew.
20:32
Around 12.30am, Siobhan left the car again.
20:36
She would walk the half a kilometre to Fodogue, the chip shop, and use the toilet there.
20:42
John Paul told her he would wait for her in the car.
20:46
The chip shop was off the main street along the road to Littermore that would have taken Siobhan home.
20:53
Across the road is the Garda station.
20:56
But Siobhan never got that far.
21:01
Gardaí spoke to one witness, a local woman called Peggy McDonough, who claimed to have seen Siobhan at 1.45am that morning.
21:10
But earlier in the night, when she didn't return to the car, John Paul couldn't understand why.
21:16
He got out and started looking for her.
21:19
By the time Michael Coyne, the driver of the car, and the rest of their friends arrived back, he had looked everywhere he could think for her.
21:27
They figured she must have gotten a lift home from someone else.
21:31
At that stage, Anya was still in the disco with her friends, unaware that Siobhan was missing.
21:39
Next, Gardaí needed to speak to local man John McDonough, who Siobhan had bumped into that night and reportedly called a weirdo.
21:48
He had come to Gardaí's attention the night Siobhan died after getting in a fight with his ex-girlfriend and her new partner at around 11.45pm outside the Aston and Dolien Disco.
22:00
Little under an hour later, patrolling Gardie had seen him again and told him to go home.
22:06
When he refused, they drove to his home near Tishmon Beach to see if his parents might intervene.
22:13
No one was home when they called.
22:16
Unsuccessful, the guards returned around 1.10am and noticed that his red Ford Mondeo was gone.
22:24
Later, he was seen starting another fight in the village around 2.30am.
22:30
Piecing the timeline together, the investigating Gardaí now wondered where McDonough had gone during that missing hour.
22:40
The blonde John McDonough came in to make a witness statement on the 7th of December 1998.
22:47
Gardaí found scratch marks on his stomach, somewhere up to five inches long.
22:53
On his arm was an oval-shaped mark. It looked like a bite.
22:58
Macdonough told them that the scratches were from a few sources, the fight he'd been in the night before, his work as a builder and an allergic reaction.
23:09
Gardie continued to try to piece together their investigation, calling house to house and distributing hundreds of questionnaires to everyone in the village.
23:19
The Garda Sobaqua unit dove underneath the salty seawater looking for clues.
23:25
They combed the beach where Siobhan's body had been found.
23:29
There, shining up at the searching Gardie, was her silver heart-shaped locket.
23:34
Nearby was her blue fleece jacket.
23:38
The Gardie were now sure that the beach was where Siobhan had been attacked.
23:43
Her clothes were sent for examination by state forensic scientist Dr Louise McKenna.
23:49
Anya remembers waking up with a physical pain in her chest as the reality of life without her sister sunk in.
23:57
Every new detail, like the discovery of the locket, made the situation worse for the family.
24:04
Each new piece of news dragging them further into that black hole As the search for clues and answers continued, Siobhan's family prepared to lay their beloved sister and daughter to rest.
24:19
Hundreds of people gathered at the local parish church in Littermoor.
24:23
Family, friends and schoolmates all piled in.
24:27
More stood outside in the cold December day, listening to the funeral mass over the loudspeaker.
24:34
They listened to Father Michael Brennan as he spoke about the profound pain and loss for Siobhan's family.
24:41
They listened to Siobhan's uncle, Ciarán O'Fajrta, as he appealed for help in finding our killer.
24:48
Siobhan's father, Andy, told the crowds gathered how we were not put on this world to go through this.
24:56
Siobhan's friends presented gifts to the altar, a clown teddy representing her love for family.
25:04
her school diary symbolising her deep friendships, a painting she had done, and a CD highlighting her love of art and music.
25:13
Mourners overcome with emotion stood up and left the packed church.
25:18
Her school choir sang, accompanied by a harp and a guitar.
25:23
As the mass ended, the titanic theme song, My Heart Will Go On, played out across the church.
25:31
As they brought Siobhan's coffin to the graveyard, her friends formed a guard of honour.
25:37
In their hands, pale from the cold winter winds, they held single roses, carnations and lilies, which they placed on her grave after her burial.
25:53
Superintendent Jim Sugru was leading a team of 50 Gardaí investigating Siobhan's death.
25:59
In the days after her funeral, he spoke to media about their progress and the leads they were following up.
26:06
He also spoke about the evidence that they had uncovered but could not yet divulge.
26:13
As time went on, his team gathered over 650 witness statements.
26:18
The witness statements helped the Gardaí piece together more of the movements of their central suspect, John McDonough.
26:26
They were gradually able to build a more complete picture of his activities on the 5th and 6th of December.
26:33
McDonough was known around the village. He was stocky but kept fit and was proud of his appearance.
26:40
Locals knew he could be charming but that he had a short temper and was prone to violence.
26:47
Gardie learned McDonough had got into two fights on the night of Siobhan's murder.
26:52
One early in the night, the other closer to half past two.
26:58
Gardie wondered if the second fight was an attempt to attract attention and build an alibi.
27:04
If that was his plan, it was unsuccessful, as shortly after 2am, one witness spoke to him.
27:11
McDonagh told them how he had gone home to try to sleep, but was so bothered by the earlier fight that he had come back to try to find his ex's new boyfriend again.
27:23
Despite the many statements gathered by Gardaí, McDonough could not be accounted for during the time of Siobhan's death.
27:31
There was another critical change in the overall picture when Peggy McDonough, the witness who had previously claimed she had seen Siobhan at 1.45am that morning, came forward to Gardaí again and changed her statement.
27:45
She now believed that her sighting had been the week before Siobhan was killed.
27:50
A friend of John McDonough's saw him the day after Siobhan died and remarked on the scratches on his arms.
27:57
They had not been there the night before.
28:00
Other witnesses told Gardaí they noticed that he changed his clothes during the night, taking off his white v-neck jumper and replacing it with a black Metallica T-shirt.
28:13
Historically in Ireland, as in most of the world, clothes were handmade.
28:18
The painstaking knitting of a loving mother or the precise sewing of a tailor's calloused hands.
28:25
Up to the middle of the 20th century, these clothes would have been made of natural materials.
28:31
Sheep brought down from the mountain to be sheared.
28:34
The muck was washed from their coat, the fibres pulled apart and carded until soft, before being spun into yarn.
28:42
Flax grown in the fields, harvested and woven into heavy-duty linens.
28:47
Silk extracted from the most delicate of cocoons.
28:51
Then came the 20th century and two world wars in quick succession.
28:56
Scarcity bred invention.
28:59
fashion houses were awash with new synthetic materials nylon polyester acrylic unlike natural fabrics which are created by microscopic fibers brushed together these new materials are manufactured from long threads of stretched plastic organic materials will eventually rot away while artificial textiles like all plastics can survive for hundreds of years Two such red fibres were found on Siobhan's clothes during the forensic examination.
29:32
Gardie were curious whether these fibres could link her to her attacker, and in particular to John McDonough.
29:40
They asked him for the jumper he had been wearing that night.
29:44
He provided police with a white Adidas hoodie, complete with blue stripes.
29:50
The local guards found that strange. They had seen John that night at Austan on Dólin. He had been wearing white, but it wasn't the hoodie he'd had on.
30:00
They reviewed a photograph of John taken on the 5th of December.
30:04
In it, he is wearing a white V-neck jumper, not the same sporty jumper they had in their possession.
30:11
The fibres could be key evidence, and they knew they had to find the V-neck jumper.
30:19
On the 12th of December, Gardie carried out a raid on John's home, just uphill from Tishmon Beach, where Siobhan was found.
30:27
They recovered a jumper that matched the picture.
30:31
When Dr Louise McKenna from the State Forensic Science Laboratory examined it, she found black, blue and red synthetic fibres, present on both the front and the back.
30:42
On the night she died, Siobhan Hines wore black socks, a petrol blue fleece made from polyester and a wine-red acrylic polo-neck jumper.
30:53
Dr. McKenna also inspected John McDonough's car, a red Ford Mondeo.
30:58
On the passenger seat, she found traces of that petrol blue fleece and red polo neck jumper.
31:05
The driver's seat of John's car was decorated with a fluffy car seat cover.
31:10
It was red and black, the colours of the local GAA team car a row.
31:15
Dr McKenna inspected it more closely.
31:18
The material was familiar.
31:21
It matched fibres already found.
31:23
The red fibres found on Siobhan's clothes.
31:28
The forensic evidence soon overwhelmingly pointed to one thing Gardaí could be certain of.
31:34
Siobhan Hines had been in John McDonough's car on the night she died.
31:40
On the 15th of January, 1999, around 3.15pm, John McDonough was brought in for further questioning, along with his mother, Maggie McDonough.
31:51
Maggie told her son not to say anything and that she would stand by him.
31:56
While she was in custody, Maggie sang old Shano songs, her lilting voice echoing around the interview room.
32:04
She was being held for suspicion of withholding information.
32:08
Gardie asked her about her son's white v-neck jumper.
32:12
She told him that she had washed it after the 6th of December.
32:17
Gardie presented the fibre evidence to John McDonough.
32:21
During the interview, McDonough told the Gardie that he could not dispute it.
32:27
Five months later, on the 17th of June, 1999, shortly after 5.30am, Superintendent Jim Sugrew knocked on the door of a lorry compound in Ballygoran near Maynooth, County Kildare.
32:41
John McDonough woke up and opened the door.
32:44
Sugrew began to introduce himself.
32:47
I know, I know, McDonough replied.
32:50
McDonough was being arrested for the rape and murder of Siobhan Hines.
32:56
The 25-year-old then held out his wrists to be handcuffed, saying, Put them on.
33:02
I was expecting ye.
33:13
John McDonough pled not guilty to all charges relating to the killing of Siobhan Hines.
33:18
As he awaited trial he was given bail on the condition that he stay out of the west of Ireland.
33:25
He was to remain in Dublin until the trial date.
33:28
During this time, McDonough was arrested again on a charge of soliciting a sex worker.
33:35
Another time he was reported to have choked a sex worker and dragged her down the stairs before kicking her out of the house when she started to scream.
33:43
This was a violation of his probation and he was brought into custody again.
33:49
Although, after a few days, he was released to the community once again.
33:56
Meanwhile, Siobhan's family were trying to live their new lives without her.
34:01
Her father tried to be strong for the family.
34:04
He later said, I'm hiding this pain as much as I can from the public, and I hide it well.
34:12
You learn to do that, but that doesn't mean the pain is not there.
34:19
The small community of Littermore and Carrowrow rallied around the family.
34:24
Siobhan's mother, Breed, remembered later how in the first year they were never left alone.
34:33
On the 8 of May 2001, the trial for Siobhan's murder finally began, roughly two and a half years after her death.
34:42
The Central Criminal Court in Dublin felt foreign to Andy and Breed.
34:47
They had never been in a courtroom before.
34:50
They were shocked when they realised how close they would be sitting to John McDonough.
34:55
In the courtroom, McDonough was sharply dressed and held his back straight when he arrived.
35:01
He faced three charges.
35:04
One charge of rape, another charge of rape with an implement and a charge of murder.
35:12
Over the next six weeks, the family would sit through 100 hours of testimony from 146 witnesses and experts.
35:20
And sitting just across the courtroom would be John McDonough and his senior counsel, Barry White, who did his best to point out each flaw in the prosecution's case.
35:31
The case against John McDonough was made up mostly of circumstantial evidence.
35:35
The sightings of McDonough that night, the scratches and the fibres.
35:40
The prosecution argued that after raping Siobhan with an object, he took her to Tishmond Beach and left her there, knowing she would drown when the tide rose around her.
35:52
Despite the Polaroid camera in the station, no one took any pictures of the scratches on John McDonough's arms and torso in those early days of the investigation.
36:03
As the arguments went on, the prosecution's case seemed to weaken.
36:07
On the 16th day, Judge Patrick Smith dismissed the first rape charge, as the evidence was too limited.
36:15
Amongst themselves, Gardie wondered if their case was strong enough.
36:20
Garda Pat O'Connor, who saw McDonagh that night in Carraro, held out hope.
36:26
He knew there was nothing the defence could do to change the facts.
36:31
State forensic scientist Dr Louise McKenna took to the stand.
36:36
She explained how the numerous fibres found on McDonough's clothes and in his car, as well as on the clothes of Siobhan Hines, gave very strong support to the two of them being in contact that night.
36:48
The chances of the same type of fibres, with the same dye, showing up in such a large quantity by sheer coincidence, was, she said, very slim.
37:00
When McDonough was cross-examined, he suggested that the maroon of Siobhan's jumper was a common colour.
37:07
Galway had won the Oral Ireland that year. Lots of people were still wearing their county colours with pride.
37:13
The black and red car seat cover was popular in the area too, he claimed, with local people supporting their GAA team.
37:22
McDonough struggled to explain why he had changed clothes that night. and why he had misled the Gardaí by not telling them he had swapped tops.
37:31
They didn't ask, he said.
37:34
All throughout his time on the stand, he claimed he didn't go near Siobhan.
37:40
The defence also made reference to the initial statement made by Peggy McDonough, claiming that she had seen Siobhan Hines at 1.45am.
37:50
If Peggy had seen Siobhan at that time, the guarded timeline was incorrect.
37:55
However, Peggy McDonough had changed her statement in January 1999.
38:00
telling Gardaí she now believed this sighting was the week before Siobhan was murdered.
38:09
Butternut.
38:33
They make freshly prepared, perfectly portioned meals using human quality meat and veg, gently cooked at 90 degrees and frozen to lock in all the good stuff. No nasties, just proper food. To give your dog a serious upgrade, head to butternutbox.com forward slash lines of inquiry and use the code lines of inquiry for 50% off your first two boxes.
38:58
Thanks again to our partners, Butternut Box. Now, back to the podcast.
39:06
Finally, on the 15th of June 2001, around midday, the nine women and three men of the jury retired to consider all the evidence put before them.
39:16
The community in Connemara waited anxiously for news.
39:21
That Sunday was Father's Day, 17th of June, although for Andy Hines the day would take on new meaning.
39:30
Two years after John McDonough's arrest, the word came through to the court.
39:35
The jury had reached a verdict.
39:38
The families rushed to take their seats while legal teams, journalists and Gardaí filled the room.
39:45
At the door, friends and relatives of the Hines family lingered.
39:50
Around 11.15am, the room fell silent as Judge Patrick Smith arrived.
39:57
He called for the jury to be returned.
40:01
The room was filled with a palpable tension.
40:05
The foreman handed a folded piece of paper to the clerk, who began to read out.
40:12
The verdict was unanimous.
40:15
Guilty on both counts.
40:19
The courtroom was filled with cheering voices and emotional outbursts.
40:24
Tears of relief fell from the eyes of some of the jury members.
40:28
Siobhan's best friend reached out to hug Andy and Breed.
40:32
John McDonough burst into tears as he threw his head down into the seat beside him.
40:38
He insisted until the end that he did not kill Siobhan.
40:47
His family sat beside him, crying.
40:52
Judge Patrick Smith imposed the mandatory life sentence on John McDonough for the murder of Siobhan Hines.
40:58
A further sentencing hearing for her rape would be arranged.
41:02
The court watched in silence as John McDonough was handcuffed and led away.
41:09
Outside the court, Andy Hines spoke about the McDonaghs.
41:13
They will get their son back someday, he said, but we'll never get Siobhan back.
41:22
Andy could never forgive John McDonagh for what he did and didn't think anyone would expect a father to forgive such a thing happening to their 17-year-old daughter.
41:32
Breed Hines agreed that she would not forgive John McDonough.
41:36
She would later recall how a mouse had once appeared in the kitchen of their home in Littermoor when Siobhan was a child.
41:44
Siobhan would not let her mother get the cat, insisting that she had looked the mouse in the eyes and knew he was scared.
41:51
Together, they shooed the mouse back outside.
41:55
Breed compared Siobhan and the mercy she showed that mouse to her own treatment.
42:01
She was in the mouse's position a little while later, and she wasn't shown any mercy, Breed said.
42:10
The murder of Siobhan Hines was Superintendent Jim Sugru's last case, and his worst.
42:16
He retired after serving 40 years in Angarda Siakana, but Siobhan's murder always stuck with him.
42:23
After McDonough was sentenced, Superintendent Sugru hoped that Connemara would be a safer place for young women.
42:30
He said, I have been involved in 12 murder investigations throughout my service, and this was one of the most brutal, horrendous cases that I have ever dealt with.
42:44
McDonough was held in custody in Wheatfield Prison.
42:47
Around lunchtime, on Tuesday 19th June 2001, McDonough left his cell.
42:54
A prisoner jumped out from behind him and grabbed him by the hair, while another appeared with a makeshift knife in his hand.
43:01
The prisoner attempted to slash the throat of John McDonough, but prison officers intervened and McDonough only suffered superficial injuries.
43:11
On the 23rd of July 2001, the Hines family were back in the Central Criminal Court.
43:17
John McDonough was sandwiched between two prison officers as he was sentenced for the rape of Siobhan Hines.
43:25
Mr Justice Smith described it as brutal and commented that the pain Siobhan suffered must have been intense.
43:34
McDonough was given a ten-year sentence to run alongside his life sentence for her murder.
43:41
Andy, Breed and their family did their best to cope with the pain of losing a daughter in such a cruel way.
43:48
They tell stories about her and dream about her. They go on with their lives but then the reality hits again.
43:55
Their lives would never go back to how they were before.
44:00
Andy reflected on this change, saying, You're the parents of a murdered child, and you always will be.
44:08
She's not coming home.
44:11
It really hurts.
44:13
The community of Littermore and Siobhan's friends, too, did their best to support the Hines family.
44:20
In her school, Siobhan was honoured with a garden of remembrance, filled with trees and roses and forget-me-nots.
44:27
Along the rocky inlet of Tishmon Beach, her friends built a shrine to the young seventeen-year-old, who was found there on that cold winter's day.
44:37
Her parents struggled to visit it.
44:42
Early in 2007, McDonough appealed his conviction.
44:46
The murder charge should never have been put to the jury, his legal team argued, as there was not enough evidence to support it.
44:54
The presiding judge, Mr Justice Hugh Gagan, described the evidence as ample and overruled the appeal.
45:02
He also raised the question, if McDonough, who knew the area well, was not planning on killing Siobhan Hines, why would he bring her body to the beach?
45:13
After the decision was announced, Andy Hines was visibly upset as he spoke about his relief that McDonough was to stay in prison.
45:21
It's the only place to keep beasts like that, he said.
45:25
Siobhan's mother, Breed, also spoke out about the traumatic experience.
45:31
She said, We will never be the same again.
45:34
We will never ever forget Siobhan, as long as we shall live.
45:40
In 2015, McDonough brought a new appeal forward. He wanted the forensic samples retested by new experts.
45:48
Once again, McDonough's legal challenge was dismissed.
45:52
For Andy Hines, the thought that McDonough might one day be released and rejoin their small, isolated community haunts him.
46:00
I don't want to die young, but I hope I never see it, he said.
46:06
Last December 2025, 27 years after Siobhan's horrific death, 51-year-old John McDonough went again to the Court of Appeal.
46:16
Given the advances in DNA profiling since the initial investigation, McDonough's team now want the swabs taken from Siobhan's fingernails and intimate areas to be tested.
46:28
Dr Dorothy Ramsbottom, the DNA expert for the state, argued that retesting was not necessary, as it was unlikely that a profile would be generated today as it was in 2001 during the trial.
46:41
Siobhan Hines' body was submerged in water and as such any DNA gathered would not be useful evidence.
46:50
The Hines family awaited a decision on this appeal.
46:59
Thank you.
47:20
Thank you for listening to this episode of Lines of Inquiry.
47:23
If you're enjoying the podcast, leaving a rating or review really helps. We've now passed 5,000 five-star ratings on Spotify along with a growing number of reviews on Apple Podcasts. Those reviews make a real difference and help new listeners find the series.
47:40
Make sure you like and subscribe to the podcast to get notified whenever a new episode is released.
47:46
If you're listening on Spotify, you can also leave a comment on this episode. We read every comment and we're genuinely grateful for the time you take to share your thoughts.
47:55
You can get in touch with us directly by emailing linesofinquiry at goloudnow.com. If you have a question or if you have a case you'd like us to cover, we'd love to hear from you.
48:07
Follow us on Instagram at Lines of Inquiry podcast and, if you can, share the podcast with others.
48:14
Lines of Inquiry is presented by me, John Sweetman. The podcast is created by Darren Cleary. Our executive producer is Owen Brennan. Senior producer is Siobhan Walsh.
48:25
This episode was written by Siobhan Walsh and edited by Owen Brennan. Sound design and editing by Neil Kavanaugh with legal, marketing and social media support from the team at Golout.
48:37
Sources for this episode include The Irish Independent, Irish Examiner, Connacht Tribune, Connacht Telegraph, Toome Herald, RTE, Irish Times, Evening Herald, Galway Bay FM, Galway Advertiser, Connacht Sentinel and more.
48:55
Join me next time as we open another case and follow the evidence wherever it leads. Because, in the end, everything done in the dark comes to light.
