Show Notes
In May 1998, 83-year-old shopkeeper Eddie Fitzmaurice was attacked and left bound in the bedroom above his drapery shop in Bellaghy, where he remained undiscovered for five days.
This week we will examine the violent rural robberies that shaped the investigation, the seven innocent members of the travelling community who were targeted during the corrupt Burnfoot operation and why, nearly three decades later, nobody has been charged with Eddie’s murder.
Written, hosted and produced by Jenny Claffey. Research by Karl O’Reilly.
Sources: An Garda Síochána: Eddie Fitzmaurice An Garda Síochána: Murder of Eddie Fitzmaurice—2018 Crimecall Appeal An Garda Síochána: Murder of Eddie Fitzmaurice—2023 Crimecall Appeal RTÉ News: A Gentle Sligo Man Whose Cruel Killing Remains Unsolved The Irish Times: Daughter of Eddie Fitzmaurice Wants to Know Who Is Responsible Before She Dies The Journal: Gardaí Renew Appeal on the 24th Anniversary of Eddie’s Murder Irish Examiner: Son Seeks Justice for Slain Father 15 Years On The Irish Times: Seven Arrested over Co Mayo Murder in 1998 Irish Examiner: Tribunal Concludes That Sergeant Planted Gun RTÉ News: Adverse Tribunal Finding on Sergeant John White The Irish Times: Detective Helped Plant Gun at Traveller Site The Irish Times: Man Gets Life for Murder of Elderly Farmer Paud Skehan The Irish Times: Brothers Jailed for Killing Elderly Farmer Paddy Logan Irish Unresolved Mysteries: Eddie Fitzmaurice—Mayo Background: The Morris Tribunal To access bonus weekly episodes of Red Room join Patreon HERE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Red Room: A True Crime Podcast
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On March 31st, 1973, 18-year-old Marian Beattie was found partially clothed at the bottom of Hadden’s Quarry near Aughnacloy, hours after leaving a charity dance with an unidentified young man.
In April 1988, eighteen-year-old German student Inga Maria Hauser boarded a ferry from Scotland to Northern Ireland during a solo InterRail trip. Fourteen days later, her body was found in Ballypatrick Forest, almost forty miles from Larne. Nearly four decades on, police have DNA, thousands of samples and a suspect they said was supported by a strong hypothesis, but nobody has ever been charged with her murder.
This episode was first published on Patreon on February 2025.
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