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Geoffrey Evans
Geoffrey Evans (12 June 1943 – 20 May 2012) was an English serial killer who murdered two women in Ireland with an accomplice John Shaw (born 6 July 1945) in 1976,[1] and one of the longest-serving prisoners in Ireland.[2] He was known to have planned to rape and kill one woman each week.[3] The British police had previously investigated the pair in connection with three rapes committed in England in 1974, prompting the men to leave the United Kingdom and travel to the Republic of Ireland. They planned a series of murders and rapes, which they did by house theft. They were detained in Cork and received a two-year prison sentence for burglary. After 18 months, however, they were released and escaped British prosecution for the rape charges in England by failing to return to the U.K. and travelling through Ireland. In August 1976, in Co Wicklow, they abducted and repeatedly raped and then murdered 23 year-old Elizabeth Plunkett from Ringsend in Dublin, following a night out in Brittas Bay. They disposed of her body by tying it to a lawnmower and dumping it in the Irish Sea off the Wicklow coast. Her remains were discovered on 28 September 1976 over 110km away on Duncormick beach, Co Wexford.[2] In September of that year, in Castlebar, they abducted 23-year-old Mary Duffy [4] as she walked home from a late work shift as a cook. The pair drove her to a secluded area in Connemara and over a two day period repeatedly beat and raped her, before murdered her. They pair then disposed of her body by tying a concrete block and a sledgehammer to it and dumping it in Lough Inagh in Co Galway. On 26 September 1976, both were detained by the Gardaí and later sentenced to life imprisonment.[1] In December 2008, Evans underwent heart surgery, suffered a stroke and fell into a coma. Until June 2010 he remained in hospital care with caution, and then was given temporary release when doctors said he was in a vegetative state. In April 2011 he was transferred to Dublin's St. Mary's Hospital. He died there on 20 May 2012 at the age of 71 or 72 (sources vary).[2] According to the autopsy, the cause of death was sepsis caused by pneumonia.[2] In 2025 it emerged that, despite Evans and Shaw confessing to the rape and murder of both women back in 1976, they were only prosecuted and convicted of the murder of Mary Duffy.[5] The charges against the pair for the murder of Elizabeth Plunkett were not proceeded with by the then Director of Public Prosecutions, Eamonn Barnes. The family of Elizabeth Plunkett only discovered this fact in 2023, when contacted by the Irish Parole Board about temporary day release for John Shaw.[6] In the intervening years no coroners inquest had been held for Plunkett and no death certificate issued. In January 2025 a jury at Gorey District Court returned a verdict of unlawful killing in the case of Elizabeth Plunkett, with coroner Dr Sean Nixon recording a cause of death as asphyxia due to strangulation. The family of Elizabeth Plunkett have called on the Commissioner of An Garda Shochána (Irish Police) Drew Harris to reopen the murder investigation into Plunkett. As of January 2025, Shaw is still imprisoned for his part in the murder of Mary Duffy, having been moved from Arbor Hill Prison in Dublin to Castlerea Prison in Co Roscommon in 2022. Having served over 49 years he is currently the longest serving prisoner in Ireland. References
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