‘She saw him ­coming’: the con artist, an isolated father, and the poisoning that left a family bereft

‘I really wanted to know who died first? Did she force him to do that?’ – new true-crime series examines the devastation wrought by Julia Holmes

Lynne Kelleher

Thomas Ruttle was Julia Holmes’s final victim. But the events that led to his death still remain a mystery to his family, a decade on.

A new RTÉ documentary, Swindlers, The Julia Holmes Story, traces the decades of scams and frauds orchestrated by Holmes across three continents — and the devastation she deliberately wrought on Ruttle’s family.

Holmes (63) and Ruttle (56) were found dead in the bedroom of his Limerick farmhouse on May 18, 2015, by trespassers who had broken in to steal scrap metal.

The couple had deliberately exposed themselves to carbon monoxide poisoning.

At the inquest, I really wanted to know who died first? Did she force him to do that? It’s all those notes they left. She wrote them all… mostly lies, but she wrote everything.”

‘Swindlers’, a new true-crime ­series, begins on RTÉ One and the RTÉ Player on Wednesday, February 18, at 9.35pm

New RTÉ series tells stranger-than-fiction stories of Irish con artists

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Friday, 13 Feb 2026 16:10

New RTÉ series tells stranger-than-fiction stories of Irish con artists  

Swindlers airs Wednesday 18 February, 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player 

Swindlers, a new true-crime series begins on Wednesday 18 February at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player. The three-part series tells the extraordinary and shocking stories of some of Ireland’s most renowned con-artists and white-collar criminals through the voices of the victims, friends and colleagues they deceived, the journalists that covered the cases and the law enforcers who fought for justice to be served.

Each episode unravels a complex web of deceit and examines the personalities of the swindlers behind each con. The series explores the calculated tactics they used to deceive friends, family and institutions, and the methods that led to the swindlers’ eventual downfall.

Episode one reveals the shocking story of international con artist, bigamist and sweet-talking criminal, Tyrone woman Julia Holmes. Julia swindled millions of pounds from multiple victims across three continents over four decades using 40 aliases. She spent time in prison in Texas for fraud and was the subject of multiple criminal investigations involving the FBI, the PSNI and An Garda Síochána. Victims, law enforcement and the journalists who followed her antics tell the story of her life, incredulous crimes and ultimate downfall, but also the hurt and trauma she left behind.

Speaking in episode one about Julia coming into her life as a child, Kim Parrish Saunders, whose father Clyde Parrish married Julia Holmes in the US said: “There was no feeling or emotion in her eyes… She had gone nineteen and a half years scamming everyone that she met. I think she believed that she was untouchable.” 

Episode two tells the story of Dublin solicitor Thomas Byrne, who stole €52 million from Irish banking institutions and took ownership of 12 of his victims’ houses in one of the biggest cases of white-collar crime in the history of the Irish State. From his beginnings as a local trusted solicitor, Byrne deceived his neighbours and clients by transferring a dozen of their properties into his own name without their knowledge or consent and took out multiple mortgages from the banks by using the houses as collateral.

Episode three examines the Custom House Capital (CHC) scandal, one of Ireland’s most notorious investment fraud cases. The scheme involved the systematic misappropriation of approximately €61 million in client funds, leaving more than 2,000 investors, many of them retirees, facing devastating financial losses. In this episode, several of the victims recount their harrowing experiences.