Mother of Keane Mulready-Woods tells court of impact of teenager’s ‘brutal, tragic and horrifying’ murder

The mother of a 17-year-old who was murdered and chopped up by a criminal gang has said she wishes she could see her son one last time and hear him say, “I love you mam”.

In a statement read out at a sentence hearing for two men who facilitated the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods, Elizabeth Woods said she prays for justice for her son’s “inhumane, violent and barbaric death”. She described her son’s death as “one of the most brutal, tragic and horrifying murders in the history of Ireland”, and said she hopes no other family will go through what her family has gone through.

Det Inspector Aidan McCabe also told John Byrne SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions, that the chief suspect for the murder is Robert Lawlor, a “notorious” criminal who was linked to several murders.

Lawlor was shot dead in Belfast in April 2020. At the time of Keane Mulready-Woods’ murder Lawlor was “heavily involved in a feud between rival criminal gangs in Drogheda”, the inspector on Monday told the three-judge Special Criminal Court.

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Gerard Cruise (49) of Rathmullan Park, Drogheda pleaded guilty to a charge that, with knowledge of the existence of a criminal organisation, he facilitated the murder of Keane Mulready-Woods, at Rathmullan Park, Drogheda, Co Louth, between the dates of January 11th and 13th, 2020, contrary to Section 72 of the Criminal Justice Act, 2006.

Paul Crosby (27) of Rathmullan Park, Drogheda, Co Louth, pleaded guilty to the same charge.

Mr Mulready-Woods (17), was last seen alive in Drogheda on January 12, 2020. The following day, some of the teenager’s body parts were found in a sports bag in the Moatview area of Coolock in Dublin. Two days later, remains were found in a burning car in a laneway in the Drumcondra area. Mr Mulready-Woods’ torso was discovered on March 11th, 2020, hidden in an overgrown ravine during a search of waste ground at Rathmullan Park.

Det Insp McCabe said that Mr Mulready-Woods went missing on the late afternoon of January 12th, 2020. On January 14, gardaí with a search warrant went to the home of Gerard ‘Ged’ McKenna in Rathmullan Park in Drogheda which was confirmed as the site of the teenager’s murder by DNA and blood spatter evidence. McKenna was jailed last year for four years for assisting in the clean-up of the crime scene following the murder.

Mobile phone records showed that Crosby called Mr Mulready-Woods at 5.57pm on January 12th, and at 6.02pm he took a taxi to the Centra shop in Ballsgrove in Drogheda. He met Crosby there and Crosby paid for his taxi. They then got into Cruise’s Volkswagen and drove to Rathmullan Park. During interviews with gardai Cruise admitted that he dropped Mr Mulready-Woods and Crosby at McKenna’s house where the murder happened.

Cruise told gardai that everything seemed fine between Mr Mulready-Woods and Crosby and he did not know what was to happen at the house.

Det Insp McCabe said the last sighting of Mr Mulready-Woods was from CCTV footage which showed him at the back of the house in Rathmullan Park at 6.48pm with three other men, including Robbie Lawlor.

The day after the murder, Cruise bought number plates that were used on the car that was set on fire in Coolock with some of the victim’s remains inside.

Inside McKenna’s home, gardaí found blood spatter patterns that showed the victim had met a violent death. There was also a significant attempt to clean and redecorate the house.

Cruise, the inspector said, was arrested on December 8th, 2020 and over the course of 17 interviews told gardaí about his movements on the day, including dropping Crosby and Mr Mulready-Woods at McKenna’s home. He denied having been in McKenna’s home or having any involvement in destroying evidence or renovating McKenna’s house.

He could not explain how his mobile phone came to be in McKenna’s house when gardaí raided it. He further told gardaí that Crosby offered him money to help dispose of the body but he declined.

He accepted that he had given a bag that may have contained a drill to a person of interest to the murder investigation.

Crosby, the inspector said, was arrested on February 16th, 2021, but nothing of evidential value emerged from his four interviews. He has more than 40 previous convictions, including for road traffic offences, possession of drugs, criminal damage, theft and fraud, and arson. While in prison he has been convicted of being in possession of a mobile phone.

While in prison, he has been convicted of being in possession of a mobile phone.

He was also acquitted of attempted murder following a trial in February 2019. He had been accused of the attempted murder of Gerard Boyle at Knockcommon, Beauparc, Slane, on November 10th, 2016. Mr Boyle was stabbed 28 times and forced into the boot of a car that was then pushed into a canal. He escaped from the car and swam to the canal bank where a passing taxi driver called the emergency services. Crosby denied any involvement and a Central Criminal Court jury took just 43 minutes to find him not guilty of the attempted murder.

Cruise’s most recent previous conviction was in 2010 for possession of drugs. Prior to that he was convicted of public order matters and a burglary in 1990.

In her statement, Ms Woods wrote that she wanted the best for her son and to lose him to such an “inhumane, violent and barbaric death is absolutely shocking”. She recalled the two burials for her son as his body parts were found at different times in different areas of the country.

On his birthday, she said the family brings cake to his grave. “Keane would never mind what presents he got as long as he had a nice cake,” she said. She hears him call to her and battles every day with knowing that she couldn’t help her son.

“The haunting nightmares will live with us forever,” she said. “The loss is something we will have to live with. You don’t get over it, you don’t move on.”

Ms Woods also complained that some of the media reporting relating to her son was “disturbing and deeply upsetting”. She added: “The worst part; it was my child they were talking about.”

Ms Woods said she feels vulnerable in her home and every day she has to walk past the house where her son died. She said she could never have imagined that the “dark, sadistic minds” that killed her son could live in her community.

Michael Bowman SC, for Crosby, said that his client had no father growing up and had difficulties with cocaine from a young age. Since going into custody, he has engaged with the Irish Red Cross and has a Gaisce Award in employment skills. “The green shoots of recovery are well established,” he said, adding: “he is now abstinent [from drugs] and has been for some time in custody.”

Crosby is also entitled to a 25 percent discount on whatever headline sentence the court sets due to his early guilty plea, counsel said.

Bernard Condon SC, for Cruise, said that his client wants to apologise for his involvement and expresses his “horror” at what happened. He said that Cruise did not know what was going to happen when he dropped Crosby and Keane off in Rathmullan Park and he was not involved at the “top level”.

Cruise is also entered an early guilty plea, counsel said. He is a father of four with several grandchildren with whom he has a good relationship, and has worked as a manual labourer. Counsel handed in a number of testimonials from neighbours, family and friends which he said show that Cruise is committed to his family and is a good neighbour who helped out with street cleaning and clearing flooding and drainage problems.

Mr Justice Tony Hunt, presiding at the three-judge court, said that the apologies offered by both accused may seem empty to the victim’s family given the “horrific” nature of the crime.

He adjourned sentencing to February 13th.