In September 1976, the island of Ireland was terror stricken as news circulated of a young woman going missing in Brittas Bay Co Wicklow.
Elizabeth Plunkett's shoe, underwear, and silver watch were all found, but not Elizabeth.
Two Englishmen, John Shaw and Geoffrey Evans were wanted in connection with her disappearance and later, for her murder, but like Elizabeth they were nowhere to be found…
If this story does not sound immediately familiar you must find a streaming device and listen to episodes one and two of Stolen Sister, a new six-part podcast series from RTÉ Documentary On One.
The series has been made in collaboration with the Plunkett family after a series of revelations came to light following a parole application by Shaw nearly two years ago.
While his request was ultimately refused, information was revealed during that process that would irrevocably alter the lives of the Plunkett family and force them to restart their fight for justice for Elizabeth.
While the series is predominately about Elizabeth’s story this week’s episode will focus on Mayo woman Mary Duffy - the second victim of Shaw and Evans.
It will also tell the never before heard stories of other Irish women who very nearly become victims of the nation’s first serial killers…
To learn more keep reading or start streaming episode three of Stolen Sister above.
The black boots
Two days after Elizabeth went missing, a little girl called Una Whelan, her brother Kevin and a friend were playing in Castletimon Woods in Brittas Bay.
If you have been following this story closely, you will remember that this is the place where Shaw and Evans took Elizabeth to brutally rape and murder her.
They found a pair of black men's boots in the grass, which they proceeded to play with, blissfully unaware that those boots were evidence in a murder enquiry.
Shortly after this discovery, Elizabeth’s killers went to their friend Cliff Outram’s house in Fethard Co Tipperary.
It did not take long for Evans to notice that something vital was missing from his wardrobe.
Outram remembers Evans mentioning his lost boots as he had helped him mend the same pair of black boots while they were in prison together.
It is worth mentioning that when Outram met Shaw and Evans in prison, they used the false names John and Geoffrey Murphy.
Why does it matter that Outram could identify these boots? Because on 5 September 1976, these boots would be found in Castletimon woods by a search party desperate to find any trace of Elizabeth or the people she may be with.
Detective Inspector Hubert Reynolds was part of that search, and he found something very interesting; a piece of cardboard with the name Geoffrey Murphy written on it. If the significance of this is lost on you, please re-read the above paragraph.
It was also around this time that a local Wicklow garda realised he had likely already met Elizabeth's killers...
Someone from headquarters, came down with a photograph of Shaw and Evans and….that's the two lads who were at the dump in Brittas Bay
- Garda Nicky Crennan
Media frenzy
The Plunkett family recount the frenzy of people passing in and out of their small cottage in Ringsend. In the beginning, it was neighbours, friends and the local priest.
Then came the murder squad and then the media…
While the name is deeply off-putting, the Murder Squad was a specialised Garda unit that, at the time, was called to lead the investigation.
Elizabeth’s sisters Bernie and Kathleen recalled the detectives taking statements at the family home as well as some of Elizabeth’s possessions and clothes.
But believe it or not, they weren’t even the most traumatic visitors.
When the press started to appear at the Plunkett house, Elizabeth’s mother welcomed them in and offered them hospitality, in return, they took photographs from the home without permission and published them.
These included a picture of Elizabeth in a bikini. Considering this is the level of respect the media showed the family - it is not surprising it took them nearly 50 years to trust the press again.
The press arrived in Ringsend and my mother was distraught. She welcomed them in, gave them a cup of tea. And photographs were taken from the house unofficially
- Eddie Plunkett, Brother
Fethard
During the making of this series, the podcast creators took a trip to the town of Fethard, where Evans and Shaw stayed between the murder of Elizabeth and Mary Duffy.
They did not expect that during this research trip, they would uncover a young woman who very nearly fell victim to Ireland’s first serial killers.
The woman in question, who was 18 at the time of her attempted abduction, agreed to speak to the podcast team despite having repressed this horrific memory for years.
Understandably, she did not want to be named.
While walking home from her friend's house at around 9pm in September 1976 along a rural country road, she spotted a car passing her, it then proceeded to stop, and two men got out.
Then they started to run directly at her.
She knew instantly that she was in trouble, and so this young woman started to run for her life.
She managed to get back to her friend's house, jumped a garden wall and ran inside, locking the door behind her.
Afterwards, she told her parents what happened, and her father reported the incident to the local gardaí.
Quote: I knew immediately I was in trouble. I was a strong, fit 18 year-old woman at the time, so I ran for my life
- Fethard victim
On the run
The 10th of September is a significant date in this story.
It was the day Evans and Shaw finally left Fethard, the day Bernie Plunkett turned 18 without her sister Elizabeth, and the day our killers were supposed to sign on at a Dublin garda station as part of their bail.
Garda Crennan explained on the podcast that the men were on bail from a Dublin Court as they were due to be extradited to the UK to face multiple charges, including the rape of three women.
Now, they were officially on the run.
However, rural Ireland is nothing but observant and statements from locals of Brittas Bay about a strange car they spotted led the authorities to Fethard, right to Cliff Outram’s house.
But by the time they got to Tipperary, the men had been gone for three days, but this time Outram’s car was left behind…
But don’t fret, the gardaí did not arrive at Outram’s house empty-handed…
To learn more about this encounter, start streaming episode three of Stolen Sister now.
But let’s just say after this, an alert was sent out to gardaí across the country that Shaw and Evans were to be captured on sight.
They had about £90.00 on them when I left them and they were carrying a blue sleeping bag each, a kettle, a screwdriver and a brace and bit. They did not say where they were going
- Cliff Outram
Mary Duffy
When Elizabeth went missing, the entire country was talking about the case, including a young Mayo woman called Mary Duffy.
Mary had read in the Sunday Independent about a missing girl and the two Englishmen wanted in connection with her disappearance; her family said the news brought tears to her eyes.
But she had no idea that she would shortly become the second victim in the killing spree of these two men.
Like the Plunkett family, the Duffys have rarely spoken about their sister's murder.
But like Kathleen and Bernie, Mary's younger sister Ann knows the pain of losing a sister.
And so after nearly 50 years of silence, Ann wanted to help the Plunkett family get answers.
She spoke exclusively to the podcast about her family’s life before and after her sister’s death.
Mary, like Elizabeth, was also 23 years old when she was taken by the men.
She worked in a shop during the day, and at night, she was a cook in a local cafe in Castlebar.
She was finishing up a late shift at the cafe the night she was taken.
According to Ann, her sister was supposed to be off but had agreed to work an extra shift that fateful night…
Oh, Mary, she was, oh, she was lovely. She was always buying things for me. She was really, really good hearted
- Ann, Mary’s sister
Galway
By the time the two men abducted Mary, the gardaí were already on their tails, but now the pair were travelling under new identities.
But before they took her young life, they went to Galway and bought a caravan in Barna before stealing a Ford Cortina car in Clifden.
To evade detection, the men changed the number plates and using household paint painted the car black.
What the men did not account for was that strange, badly painted cars get noticed in rural Ireland… and news travels fast…
According to an interview given by a member of the Garda murder squad, Gerry O’Carroll, in 2012, the pair tried to kidnap another woman while travelling around the West of Ireland.
Garda O’Carroll said a young nurse accepted a lift from two Englishmen near Galway city, but something about the men felt off, so she asked them to stop so she could use the bathroom.
She got out, went into a pub and escaped through a window.
On 22 September, the men pulled into Castlebar Co Mayo, where Shaw spotted a young woman at a telephone box, it was Mary calling her brother to come pick her up from work.
He was giving someone else a lift first, so she decided to start walking home.
It was, after all, only a short distance, in a quiet area filled with houses - it should have been fine, but it wasn’t…
Shaw insisted that Evans stop the car and he proceeded to follow Mary.
Once she noticed him, Shaw chased her down and tried to grab her, but Mary fought back screaming, as he dragged her to the car.
I won’t type what happened next, but instead, I suggest you start streaming episode three of Stolen Sister.
But just like Elizabeth Plunkett, the two men would subject Mary to the most horrific 24 hours imaginable.
I heard two long hysterical screams outside. The screams would suggest that there was a girl in distress. I looked out the window for a few minutes, but I did not see anybody on the roadway outside
- Local witness statement
If anyone has any information on John Shaw and Geoffrey Evans, the Plunkett family have asked that you contact the podcast makers through documentaries@rte.ie. Listen back to previous episodes of Stolen Sister here.
