It remains one of the most high-profile crimes in the history of the State, but a new documentary recalls how the killing of Elaine O’Hara was nearly a case of the perfect murder.
asserted
killing → remain → murder
For 14 months after he had killed the Dubliner, Graham Dwyer must have believed he had got away with murder.
But in the unseasonably dry August of 2013, water levels had fallen to an almost unprecedented low at a reservoir in Roundwood, Co. Wicklow.
asserted
levels → kill → Roundwood
And with them, the best-laid plans of the respected Dublin architect, who was also a seemingly happily-married father-of-three, began to unravel.
asserted
who → lay → three
A year after child minder Ms O’Hara had gone missing in August 2012, some men spotted items in the muddy water bed which was usually covered by water – they turned out to be sex toys and some items of clothing.
asserted
they → go → clothing
They took them to the nearest police station.
asserted
They → take → station
A few days later a diligent local garda decided to go back for another look.
asserted
garda → decide → look
He climbed down the bank and there, glistening in the mud, was the unmistakable gleam of a pair of keys.
asserted
gleam → climb → keys
Stretching down, he retrieved them and brought them back to his station from where they were sent for analysis.
asserted
they → stretch → analysis
Eventually the supermarket loyalty fobs on the keys would identify them as Ms O’Hara’s.
asserted
fobs → identify → O’Hara
It remains one of the most high-profile crimes in the history of the State, but a new documentary recalls how the killing of Elaine O’Hara was nearly a case of the perfect murder
asserted
killing → remain → murder
It was a key piece in the jigsaw, which would culminate in October 14, 2013, with gardaí knocking on Dywer’s door and arresting him.
asserted
gardaí → culminate → him
But they had yet to understand the extent of the horror that had unfolded, and many who were witness to its details, have never been able to forget it.
asserted
who → have → it
Some of those investigating gardaí have now contributed to a new episode of RTÉ’s The Case I Can’t Forget.
asserted
I → investigate → Case
In September 2013, a month after the keys were discovered but not identified, a dog walker on Killakee Mountain in Wicklow had discovered human remains scattered through the woodland.
asserted
walker → discover → woodland
The remains were quickly identified as those of 36-year-old Ms O’Hara, who had disappeared in August 2012.
asserted
who → identify → August
Because of her long struggle with mental health difficulties, her family feared she had taken her own life at sea.
asserted
she → fear → sea
Her car was found at Shanganagh cemetery in south Dublin, the graveyard where her beloved mother was buried and which she had visited with her father on the day she disappeared.
asserted
she → find → day
With almost no forensic evidence and an undetermined cause of death, the investigation pivoted entirely to Ms O’Hara’s digital footprint.
asserted
investigation → pivot → footprint
Detective Sergeant Grace O’Boyle coordinated an immense volume of material — CCTV, phone data, witness statements and online activity — to shape a coherent timeline that might explain how her body had ended up on Killakee Mountain.
uncertain
body → coordinate → Mountain
‘Having a crime scene in a forest, in a wooded area, it’s not conducive to a criminal investigation,’ she tells the programme.
asserted
she → have → programme
‘You’re not going to have CCTV cameras.
asserted
You → go → cameras
You’re rarely going to have witnesses.
asserted
You → go → witnesses
So on the ground you’re working around and in, it just creates its own problems.
asserted
it → work → problems
‘Crucially you’re out in the elements.
asserted
you → ’re → elements
You have animal interference and then to distinguish between what is animal behaviour and any potential evidence.
asserted
what → have → interference
‘Sixty five per cent of the skeletal remains were recovered.
asserted
cent → recover → remains
Elaine appeared to have died where the body was discovered.
asserted
body → appear → ?
The discovery of the corpse and the identification of the keys and phones nearly an hour away in Vartry Reservoir eventually led gardaí to conclude that, not only was she in a manipulative BDSM relationship with her killer, but also that she had met him on the day she disappeared.
asserted
she → lead → day
As Detective Sergeant Kevin Duggan reconstructed Elaine’s final movements through detailed CCTV analysis and senior crime analyst Sarah Skedd examined phone records and text messages, one name emerged from the reams of data – Graham Dwyer.
asserted
name → reconstruct → data
From the outset Detective Duggan knew this case was different: ‘I said to myself this is going to be the most significant investigation that you will ever be involved in.’
asserted
you → know → that
A further breakthrough came when the two phones taken from the reservoir bed were able to be reconstructed.
asserted
phones → come → bed
They were both able to be switched on and all the text messages were readily available and investigating gardaí had the notorious ‘master’ and ‘slave” phones as they came to be known during the ensuing trial.
Detective Duggan described the discovery of the two mobile phones as ‘a miracle’.
asserted
Duggan → switch → miracle
Ms Skedd set to work on finding who owned the master phone:
asserted
who → set → phone
‘I started looking for unique journeys and I found there was a day when the ‘master; phone was used in the east of Galway city in the morning and had returned to using cells in the southeast of Dublin city early in the afternoon.
asserted
phone → start → afternoon
‘So the only realistic way of making the journey in that timeframe is to travel along the motorway network passing through the M6 Toll near Ballinasloe and then through the M4 toll near Enfield.
asserted
way → make → Enfield
‘[Through CCTV] we found a vehicle that met those criteria that was registered with an owner at an address in south county Dublin.’
asserted
that → find → Dublin
To this day, colleagues and former friends say they cannot believe they were duped by Dwyer.
asserted
they → say → Dwyer
‘He was the most vanilla person you could ever meet, he was so normal, even dull,’ one recalled.
uncertain
one → meet → ?
The investigating team were hugely trepidatious coming up to the trial.
asserted
team → investigate → trial
For them, they hadn’t got Dwyer until the jury foreperson read out a guilty verdict.
asserted
foreperson → get → verdict
…and 17 more, not listed.
The Aporia
