Details of the disturbing scene that greeted gardaí after they were alerted to the discovery of two badly decomposed bodies in a Co Limerick farmhouse emerged at an inquest hearing.
The circumstances surrounding the mysterious deaths of serial fraudster Julia Holmes and Thomas Ruttle had attracted international interest when they were discovered on May 18th, 2015, at Boolaglass, Askeaton.
Ms Holmes, who used over 40 different aliases, had been deported from the US after serving a jail sentence in Texas for fraud. Before the discovery of her body, the Police Service of Northern Ireland had been closing in on the 63-year-old con woman after she failed to appear in court in connection with a €22,000 theft allegation.
Mr Ruttle, a Co Limerick beekeeper, was believed to have been unaware of her criminal background when they met on the internet.
An inquest into the death of the couple at Newcastle West court yesterday heard how they deliberately exposed themselves to carbon monoxide poisoning using makeshift barbecues in an airtight bedroom.
They were found side by side in their bedroom by members of a Co Limerick family who had broken into the farmhouse to steal scrap metal. Two of the thieves went upstairs where they made the grim discovery.
Agitated state
In his deposition, Sgt Gearóid Thompson described how the men – since convicted of trespassing with intent to commit robbery – were in an agitated state when they arrived at Newcastle West Garda station to tell gardaí what they had found.
Sgt Thompson went to the scene at 2.50am and went upstairs where he described being met by a familiar smell he associated with badly decomposing bodies. The inquest heard how three makeshift barbecues were found in the bedroom in front of a fire place at the foot of the bed.
The fireplace had been sealed with aluminium foil stuffed up the chimney, while the windows were also closed and black material draped over them. A rolled up blue towel or blanket was at the bottom of the main bedroom door.
Det Sgt John Grant’s evidence was that there was no third-party involvement in the deaths of Mr Ruttle and Ms Holmes as the bedroom was deliberately staged to produce carbon monoxide poisoning.
Det Sgt Paul Curran outlined how he photographed a number of handwritten notes on the kitchen table which appeared to be suicide notes with a list of instructions and requirements, signed by both of the deceased.
State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy concluded the causes of death could not be confirmed from a pathology point of view. She said samples from both bodies were unsuitable for analysis for carbon monoxide, due to the time between death and their discovery. She said no third party was involved – there was no trauma to either body.
Prof Cassidy agreed the bedroom was deliberately staged to produce carbon monoxide and the circumstances of the deaths were consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning.
Asphyxia
Coroner Antoinette Simon said she had considered in great detail the letters found in the kitchen and was not reading them out. She said, based on the evidence and circumstances of the discovery of the bodies and the letters, that both Mr Ruttle’s and Ms Holmes’s “unfortunate intention was to take their own lives”.
She added there was no alternative verdict other than that of suicide and it was an asphyxia-type death associated with carbon monoxide poisoning.