DUBLIN, IRELAND — A Dublin woman, Ruth Lawrence (46), has been convicted of the double murder of two men whose bodies were found shot dead on an island in Lough Sheelin, County Meath, over ten years ago.
Lawrence, originally from Clontarf but with an address in Mountnugent, Co. Meath, had pleaded not guilty to the murders of Anthony Keegan (33) and Eoin O’Connor (32), who disappeared between April 22 and May 26, 2014.
The jury in the Central Criminal Court returned majority verdicts of 10:2 and 11:1 after deliberating for nearly 14 hours. Family members of the victims were visibly emotional as the verdicts were delivered.
The Prosecution’s Case
The trial centered on the victims’ connection to Lawrence’s South African boyfriend, Neville van der Westhuizen, who owed Mr. O’Connor, a drug dealer, €70,000. Drugs had also been stolen from Mr. O’Connor six days before the murder.
Prosecuting counsel Michael O’Higgins argued that Lawrence and her boyfriend acted as a “unit and a tag team” to lure Mr. O’Connor to their remote home, St Patrick’s Cottage, near the lake shoreline.
Key evidence presented included:
- The Killings: The prosecution alleged Lawrence fired the first, non-fatal shot into Mr. O’Connor’s stomach, which was followed by a fatal shot to the head by van der Westhuizen. Mr. Keegan, who arrived with Mr. O’Connor, was shot in the neck and head.
- Location and Disposal: Both men were shot in a field near the cottage before their bodies were moved to Inchicup Island on Lough Sheelin, approximately 100 meters from the couple’s home. Their bodies were discovered five weeks later.
- Circumstantial Evidence: The jury heard how Lawrence asked her landlord for the loan of a boat with an engine the night before the men went missing, a detail the prosecution highlighted as a calculated act to facilitate the disposal of the bodies.
Ruth Lawrence will face the mandatory sentence of life in prison when she is sentenced on December 8th.
