THE SISTERS OF Siobhán Kearney, who was murdered by her husband in 2006, have expressed concern that her killer who has never “shown any remorse” is now eligible for parole.
Mother-of-one Siobhán was killed by husband Brian Kearney at their home in Goatstown, Dublin, on 28 February, 2006 while her then three-year-old son was downstairs.
Kearney then attempted to make the murder look like a suicide.
He was given a life sentence in 2008 after being found guilty by a majority verdict of 11 to 1 at the Central Criminal Court.
Speaking to the Irish Independent’s Indo Daily Podcast, her sisters Brighid McLaughlin, a Sunday Independent columnist, and Aisling McLaughlin said Siobhán’s death “was beyond horror”.
“He (Kearney) came in and he throttled her,” said Brighid. “He strangled her twice and she was conscious for a lot of it. He literally hung her over the door with the lead from the hoover.”
Aisling also spoke of Kearney’s attempted to stage the murder to make it look like a suicide, telling the Indo Daily Podcast: “According to [former state pathologist Dr] Marie Cassidy, he had a moment when he could have changed his mind.
“He had Siobhán unconscious, and he had a moment there to call an ambulance or get help. But he chose in that moment to finish her off. That’s what he did, and then staged it to look like a suicide.”
Aisling added: “This is the brutality of a murderer that is actually being offered parole hearings and reviews, who’s never admitted, taken responsibility or shown any remorse for what he’s done.”
Aisling also said that “three generations” of the family has been tested daily by the murder, while Brighid added: “We all have post-traumatic stress disorder on a grand scale and it’s getting worse, I would say.”
The sisters told the podcast that prior to Siobhán’s death, she acknowledged that the marriage had broken down and that she and Brian had planned to separate amicably.
Brighid also encouraged women suffering from the “epidemic” of domestic violence to leave the relationship if possible.
“You find somewhere, even if it’s a refuge, you do not stay there for the sake of the children.”
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