Unplanned killing would leave clues

If the murder of Robert Holohan was a spur-of-the-moment act rather than a premeditated killing, gardaí are more likely to catch whoever is responsible.

Unlike premeditated killers, those who act spontaneously seldom make sure to leave as few clues as possible.

If they have not killed before, the act of murder can unexpectedly overwhelm them, often resulting in reckless behaviour that greatly assists forensic experts.

Dr Jim Donovan, former head of the national Forensic Science Laboratory, said that in his experience random or spur-of-the-moment murders were nearly always solved.

Garda forensic and technical experts investigating Robert's murder will have left nothing to chance in their examination of the scene where he was found and the location where his BMX was recovered, he said.

Attention to the smallest detail is vital, as was proven in the investigation into the deaths of Garda Henry Byrne (29) and Det Garda John Morley (37), who were shot while investigating a raid on the Bank of Ireland branch at Ballaghaderreen in July 1980.

"One of the raiders jumped over a wall and squatted down," said Dr Donovan.

"The seat of his pants left a mark in the soil on the ground. When he was caught he was wearing a pair of slacks and the weave in the cloth matched that in the pattern on the ground. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen."

In 1998 Siobhán Hynes (17), of Leitir Moir, was found dead on a beach at Carraroe. A Connemara man, John McDonagh, was jailed for life for the killing after fibres from his clothing were found on those of the dead girl.

Dr Donovan said investigators working on the current murder case would have gathered evidence from Robert's clothing by sticking adhesive tape to them and examining any particles on the tape under a microscope. Any soil or foreign fibres would be kept to match them with similar matter on a suspect's clothing.

Investigators would also have taken samples of vegetation from the scene in the hope of matching them to the clothing of a suspect identified later.

According to Dr Donovan, someone who planned to kill would also have planned the disposal of evidence. However, someone who did not would have acted frantically and clumsily, greatly increasing the risk of leaving clues.

Such a person would not have disposed of evidence - cloth fibres and DNA such as bodily fluid, hair and skin particles - in a measured fashion.

The black plastic in which Robert was wrapped may also prove vital, Dr Donovan said. Fingerprints could be taken from the plastic by putting it in a chamber and withdrawing all the air. A zinc and lead compound, which settles on the ridges of any prints left on the bag, could then be fed into the chamber.

The lividity patterns on Robert's body - bruise-type patterns left by the blood settled in his remains after death - would reveal the position he lay in after he was killed. Multiple blood patterns would reveal if he had been moved after he was killed and how often.