Posted by Minutes later, Gardaí responded to the call, discovering 21-year-old Sinéad Kelly lying on her back on the bank of the Grand Canal. She had been viciously stabbed around 18 times in the neck, chest and back.
Poor Sinéad was born and raised in Santry, but by her early twenties she was struggling with heroin addiction and occasionally turned to street prostitution in Benburb Street and later the canal banks near Baggot Street. Just two months before her murder, she had been raped and badly beaten. This trauma had drove her back toward drugs and survival sex work. Gardai had come to know her as a victim in that perilous world. In fact in a chilling twist of fate, Gardaí had spoken to her less than an hour before her murder during a routine patrol near the canal.
A witness reported seeing a well-built man jogging away from the scene shortly after the screams. He was wearing a tight black leather jacket with a distinctive buckle on the left shoulder, dark jeans and a knitted wool hat. Despite dragging sections of the canal and an extensive Garda search, the knife used in the murder was never recovered.
Early investigation suggested Kelly may have been murdered for owing a few hundred quid to heroin dealers. Officers believed her killing was meant as a warning to other drug debtors. Gardai felt she had been lured to the canal that night.
Multiple suspects were questioned, including two men whose files were sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions, and a Dublin man was later rearrested on drug charges thought to link him to the case. Horrifically another prostitute was viciously attacked that same period, allegedly by the same gang , to intimidate potential witnesses.
In the immediate aftermath a man phoned the RTE press office twice the morning after the murder and knew Kelly’s identity before Gardaí had officially identified her, prompting an urgent appeal for him to come forward. Appeals were also extended to taxi drivers and others who might have been in the area that night, but no decisive tip ever broke the case open. No one has been charged with Sinéad Kelly’s murder. I couldnt find an image of Sinéad or her crime scene. Almost feels like the poor ladies identity has been completely lost.
If you have any information contact Garda Confidential Line: 1800 666 111
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