THE CRIMESTOPPERS organisation is offering a reward in connection with the Garda investigation into the murder of Clare student Emer O’Loughlin in 2005.
John Griffin (44), formerly of Cardinal Cushing Road, Mervue, Galway, has been on Interpol’s “most wanted” list since last year.
Gardaí in Gort, Co Galway, believe he may be able to help with inquiries into Ms O’Loughlin’s death. Crimestoppers, a joint initiative between the Garda and the business community, has offered a reward for information which will lead to Mr Griffin’s whereabouts – he is believed to be somewhere in Britain or Europe.
Ms O’Loughlin (23), Ennistymon, Co Clare, a student at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, was found dead after a fire in a caravan at Ballybornagh, Tubber, Co Clare on April 8th, 2005. The initial postmortem did not indicate a cause of death, but gardaí treated it as “suspicious”.
Her body was exhumed in May 2010 and a postmortem was carried out, using advanced techniques in forensic pathology. Garda Supt Pat Murray of Gort station said yesterday the investigation had then been upgraded to a murder inquiry, and he believed Ms O’Loughlin met her death in a “sudden and violent manner prior to the fire occurring”.
“For operational reasons I do not at this stage wish to expand further on that point,” Supt Murray said. “As a result of the investigations that have been carried out both in 2005 and since the exhumation of Emer’s body, I believe that John Griffin, who is originally from the Mervue area of Galway city and owned the mobile home where Emer’s remains were found, may have information that will assist in the investigation of Emer’s death and I am most anxious to speak to him.
“Therefore, I am appealing to anyone who knows of John Griffin’s whereabouts or has any other information which may be helpful to contact us in complete confidence,” he said, emphasising anonymity would be guaranteed.
“John Griffin, born in 1967, had used the alias of John McDermott in the past,” Supt Murray added.
He described him as 5ft 9 inches tall and of average build. He has blue eyes and a distinctive and prominent Celtic design tattoo on the Adam’s apple area of his neck.
Mr Griffin was last seen on the Aran Islands, Co Galway, on April 20th, 2005. He had left a pile of clothes “neatly folded” on the cliff edge at Dún Aonghusa to “give the impression he had died”, Supt Murray recalled.
He believed he was still alive and somewhere in Europe, using an assumed name.
“I believe in particular that his friends, acquaintances and members of his family know where he is and I am appealing directly to them to come forward with the information they have now, almost seven years since the crime was committed.
“Emer O’Loughlin’s family are still grieving and looking for answers in relation to the circumstances of her death,” he added.
“I have visited their family home and can tell you they have a poignant reminder of her in the form of a small altar in the kitchen of their home. It holds a photograph and other mementoes of Emer’s life. The pain of their grief is very real. We in An Garda Síochána are determined to find the answers they seek.”
Last year, after the second postmortem on Ms O’Loughlin’s body, her sister Pam said the family had “always known” she was murdered. “There was never any doubt in our minds,” she said.
