The Torso in the Canal (7 page)

Noor, however, continued to live in the accommodation until 8 December.

Kathleen by this time had been housed in alternative hostel accommodation at Lismore House in Drumcondra, in the north inner city. The hostel was run by Hanji Bob with her husband Catalin Bob. On one occasion, she heard Kathleen and Farah arguing in Kathleen’s bedroom. Bob stated that on that occasion, Noor referred to Kathleen as ‘a fucking bitch.’ However they remained a couple, and on 1 December, they moved into flat No. 1 at 17 Richmond Cottages. They remained there until Noor had vanished without trace.

Yet more evidence came the way of the team. This time it came from an entirely unexpected source. On 11 July, the incident room was secretly contacted by two members of the Mulhall family. It was John Mulhall Jnr and his brother James, who were in Wheatfield Prison. They wanted to speak to members of the team in private.

When they called, they stated they were in a position to supply information on the identity of the body. Not only this, but they said they could also name the perpetrators of the crime and identify the crime scene.

The team had managed to keep the developments secret. In order to authenticate the information the jailed brothers planned to reveal, they said nothing about the breakthroughs.

When they met the Mulhall brothers in the prison, the two named the victim as ‘Farah’, saying he was a former boyfriend of their mother, Kathleen. They went further, disclosing the scene of the killing as a flat at Richmond Cottages.

The detectives tasked with interrogating them remained silent in order to let them provide as much information as possible. The ploy worked. The secret contacts continued between the brothers and the team. The detectives asked the brothers to make a statement but both declined to do so. However, they continued to pass information.

*****

There is no doubt that Kathleen, Linda and Charlotte knew they were under suspicion. The actions of John Mulhall Snr suggest that he feared for his two daughters. Although it was never categorically proven, it appears that he may have returned to help the women dispose of the carpet removed from the flat at Richmond Cottages.

Meanwhile the investigation was now gathering momentum. While virtually everyone was sure that Noor had been the victim, it was confirmed days later on 15 July when the news came back that his DNA matched that of his son.

But there was more news. Dr Dorothy Ramsbottom of the Forensic Science Laboratory confirmed with 99% certainty that his DNA matched the blood samples found at Richmond Cottages; now they had a crime scene.

This was the news the team desperately wanted to hear. Mangan immediately arranged for a full technical examination of the flat at Richmond Cottages to be examined. This began on 21 July when a unit from the Garda Technical Bureau and the Forensic Science Laboratory began an inch by inch search of the flat, its fixtures and furniture. They were searching for evidence which could reveal how Noor died, particularly traces of blood. To find these, they used luminal powder with a liquid containing hydrogen peroxide. This was sprayed as a fine mist in the flat, after which all natural light was then screened off.

The test revealed tiny traces of blood at the base of a bunk bed in the bedroom. These emerged as a bluish-green light when an ultra violet light was shone. There was also blood-staining on other surfaces in the room, which indicated that someone had at least been assaulted in the bedroom. The low-down location of the blood indicated that he may even have been on the floor during the assault.

There was also evidence of blood-staining in the grooves of the pine planks of a wardrobe in the bedroom, but not on the surface of the planks. This was consistent with a clean-up taking place to remove blood-staining.

The team now had enough evidence to contemplate making arrests. They had four suspects in mind. John Snr, Kathleen, Linda and her sister Charlotte Mulhall.

Chapter Five

‘Confession is the first step towards repentance.’

-
English proverb

Matters had now
reached a desperate stage for Linda and Charlotte. Linda could still not sleep at night and constantly broke down crying. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Noor’s face and the scene of his dismemberment. She would later remark that she could no longer look at a black person without wanting to cry. His face was etched in her consciousness.

She soon fell into a deep depression. At night, she would cry herself to sleep, imagining what the future held. She couldn’t contemplate losing her children, whom she adored. The situation was worse for her because she felt she could talk to no one; she’d spent her life taking drugs and drinking in a desperate attempt to escape from reality. Now she wanted to do just that, but there was no way out. The more she thought about her choices, the more she realised she had none.

In her heart, she knew it was only a matter of time before the truth emerged.

Charlotte suffered similarly; she too was in the throes of depression. Her life had also fallen apart. Like Linda, she drank at every opportunity to block out the memories of what had happened. Though they did not dare admit it to themselves; they woke each morning with a sense of dread and foreboding; this dread affected their every waking moment.

In their hearts, they knew that once the body had been found and positively identified, it was only a matter of time before the Gardaí would come. The waiting for the inevitable to happen, more than anything else, was like torture.

However, the premonitions of an imminent arrest were correct. The statement Bakaar and Hyland had made had specifically named them as being amongst the last to see Noor alive. When they were named, the inquiry team had discreetly run every conceivable background check on the two.

Mangan had studied the information, paying attention to the details, and the women’s personal history. He didn’t need a fortune teller to reveal the murder was no ordinary one. When he examined the paperwork on the women, which detailed their history, it was clear to him that the death probably hadn’t been planned, or even premeditated. This analysis created more questions than answers though. The primary question being: what had happened?

The matter was further complicated by secret evidence the team obtained from Crime and Security, the spying department of Garda Headquarters. As part of their investigation, Mangan had asked for officials in the security department to analyse all calls made to and from the suspects’ mobile phones. The examination of these showed that John Mulhall Snr had been in touch with his daughters at the time Noor was killed, certainly in the hours after it. This also made him a suspect, though it appeared that he had visited the scene and fled when he had seen what happened.

Mangan was of the opinion that the inquiry should now proceed as carefully as possible; experience had shown him that investigations like this were best carried out in a deliberately slow and methodical manner.

He directed the team to first try talk to the women, and then, and only then, move to make arrests. This line of inquiry was tried but rejected. When the detective team spoke to the sisters and their father John, it proved fruitless. The answers Kathleen gave to enquiries made of her did not seem to tie up with what gardaí suspected. With no place left to turn, Mangan sought permission to make arrests.

These took place on 3 August. On that particular morning, the team gathered in Fitzgibbon Street Station for a conference addressed by Mangan. The instructions were as follows:

Linda, Charlotte, Kathleen and John Mulhall Snr were to be arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Law Act 1997, for murder. The arresting team was given the exact locations where the four could be found. In the days prior to the arrests, Mangan had briefed members of several teams who would be tasked with interrogating the suspects. Much preparation work and planning had been done in this regard. Convinced that the moment for arrests had come, Mangan was adamant that everything should go according to plan.

In an address to the conference, he outlined the facts that had been established. All knew full well that the interrogation of a suspect was the most important part of any investigation. Interrogators must watch an interviewee like a hawk. If a suspect shows the slightest sign of confessing, it must be seized upon.

The plan he drafted was simple. They would have on average two hours to interview each suspect before they were entitled to take a break.

Each team would ask simple questions and try pressurising each individual suspect into telling the truth, or confessing what they knew.

The team could prove that Noor had been killed, and probably dismembered, in the flat at Richmond Cottages. They also knew Charlotte, Linda and Kathleen had been with him on the day he died.

Once they confirmed they had been with him, the team would then confront each suspect with a series of facts. What followed would largely depend on the answers they received. The purpose of the interview, though, would be to establish the truth, specifically who had done what.

Linda was the first to be arrested—at her home in Kilclare Gardens shortly after 10am, by Detective Sergeant Walter O’Connell from Store Street. This was almost five months after Noor’s death.

The timing of the arrest ensured it was done without any unnecessary drama. More than anything, Mangan didn’t want her children to see her being taken away.

O’Connell was one of the city’s most experienced officers. When he called to her door, he was polite and told her the purpose of his call. Linda was visibly stunned, although she had been waiting for this day for some time. Now it had finally arrived, she didn’t know what to say or how to react. Like an actor in a film, who had rehearsed her part 1,000 times, the drama of the situation didn’t outwardly affect her. She had rehearsed it so many times in her mind that it had no effect. She was taken to Store Street Station.

Charlotte was simultaneously arrested at another location in Tallaght, by Detective Sergeant Liam Hickey. He was one of the few detectives who had been updated on every aspect of the investigation.

Charlotte looked shocked when she was approached. She said nothing. Her body language gave nothing away. She was taken by car to Mountjoy Garda Station for her interrogation.

Kathleen had been walking along Summerhill Parade, not far from the canal, when an unmarked patrol car pulled up. She had moved into a small flat close to Richmond Cottages.

Two detectives, one of whom was Detective Sergeant Gerry McDonnell, stepped out of the vehicle, and formally arrested her on the street. She didn’t put up a fight and readily sat into the car. She was then driven to Mountjoy Station.

The sisters’ father John was arrested in south Dublin, in the grounds of Terenure College, by David O’Brien, a detective who had worked on the inquiry since the beginning, and Adrian Murray. Of the four arrests, his would prove to be the most proverbial.

Before the arrest teams left the station, Mangan had asked O’Brien and Murray to arrest Mulhall without too much fuss. He was conscious of disturbing children in the school, but he also figured that Mulhall had covered for his two daughters out of pure love.

The team knew he hadn’t been present when Noor was killed, having examined the phone traffic between the suspects, hence it was logical to surmise that his involvement had been to protect his daughters. Given the circumstances, they felt it safe to assume he had no interest in helping Kathleen, if she had a case to answer.

On the morning of the arrest, Mulhall went into shock when he saw the detectives approach.

He had been fitting glass windows at the school and had anticipated an arrest at home. He made no effort to resist but asked O’Brien for one thing; he wanted to smoke a cigarette before he was taken away. There is no doubt that he didn’t expect his request to be granted. To his surprise, O’Brien told him to take as much time as he needed.

This act of kindness had a profound affect on Mulhall whose life was falling apart. Whether it was the circumstances he was facing at that moment in time, or something else, the gesture struck him as a magnanimous one. When he smoked his cigarette, he gathered his thoughts and then sat into the patrol car. He was then taken into the city centre, where his interrogation began.

News of the arrests spread like wildfire. His daughter, Marie, was in work at the time, when a neighbour called to say Linda and Charlotte had been arrested.

She would later make a statement saying: ‘I returned from work and met the Gardaí at the house. My sisters, Linda and Charlotte, had been arrested at that stage and were gone to a Garda Station. I tried to ring my father but could not get him.’

He was now in custody. She could do nothing but wait and see what happened. Thoughtful as ever, she collected Linda’s children and looked after them for the day.

Meanwhile, the teams of detectives spent hours interviewing each of the suspects. None of them uttered a word of any importance; instead they sometimes retained their right to silence, or gave varying accounts of their movements.

The common denominator was a full denial of any role in the killing. Kathleen maintained that Noor was still alive somewhere, and said she had been trying to locate him. She could even give the names of several people whom she had asked.

The four were released without charge 12 hours later. While some interpreted this as the possible end of the investigation; the arrests were in fact just the beginning.

*****

The arrests had caused the four to panic, but they had a knock-on effect on the entire Mulhall family, including Marie. She had travelled to Store Street Garda Station around 11pm to meet her father, John, with her extended family. They took John Snr, Linda and Charlotte home while Kathleen looked after herself. Later that night, according to her statement, she spoke to her father.

‘There was just myself and my father, John, there. I asked him why he was arrested. He told me that the police think he moved the body of Farah Noor after he was killed. He told me he had nothing to do with moving the body, nor had he anything to do with the killing of Farah Noor.

‘He assured me he did not do anything that would have got him into trouble and I took him at his word. I told him the story that Charlotte told me in the bathroom and he appeared to know what had actually happened,’ she later said.

While Linda had been terrified at first when she was arrested, she interpreted her release from custody as a sign that there was no evidence against her. Her release somewhat restored her confidence.

Marie, at the time, was not talking to Linda. She was frightened for her father, to whom she was close. But she did sense Linda’s new-found confidence.

In her statement she said: ‘I think Linda Mulhall though that the killing of Farah was finished with when she was released. She was sure she got away with it. I never discussed the story Charlotte had told me in the bathroom with her following her arrest.’

However, Linda’s confidence would not last for long.

*****

The team continued to gather as much evidence as possible, with the intention of pressing charges. No stone was left unturned. On 14 August, they became aware that John Mulhall Snr had dumped bags in the Liffey at Leixlip. Mangan arranged for a search team to go straight to the area where a green plastic refuse bin, blanket, duvet, duvet cover, and pillow were found. There was also a bag that contained hair, and a knife with a black handle. It later transpired, however, that this was completely unrelated to Noor’s killing.

News of this particular search quickly filtered back to the suspects, as Mangan’s team had also searched a house in the area. This belonged to an innocent associate of John Mulhall’s who often gave him work.

Marie, by this stage, had had enough. She could see her father’s life being destroyed before her eyes.

‘I tackled my sister, Linda, in the house. Linda was living in the house at the time. I could see that loads of people that had nothing to do with the killing of Farah Noor were being dragged into Farah’s death. I told Linda Mulhall that if she did not go and tell the Garda what she knew, I would tell them the story Charlotte Mulhall had told me about Farah Noor’s killing,’ she later said in a statement.

The decision by Mangan to treat the four with more respect than perhaps they deserved had been fortuitous. Although the sisters had remained mostly silent and certainly not co-operative while in custody, Mangan sincerely believed the women, Linda more than the others, were certainly traumatised by what had happened. His opinion was shared by those familiar with the evidence that had been assembled so far. This view also applied to the sisters’ father, John.

Everyone on the team sensed he was desperately upset and more than anything, wanted to protect his daughters, no matter what they’d done.

This analysis was the correct one. He had been overcome by the events of the previous five months. He suffered from contrasting emotions; he could not understand how his daughters had dismembered a body. No matter what way he examined their actions; it made no sense to him.

He had been left devastated by Kathleen’s decision to end their marriage. Now the man who’d taken his wife had died, and would take two of his daughters as well. No one could understand the position that he found himself in. O’Brien’s act of generosity on the morning of his arrest in some ways restored Mulhall’s faith. He had never had much time for the police; now he saw them in a different light. While he was no pushover, he was privately appalled by what had happened to Noor. No matter what way he examined his conscience, he felt he had only one choice, and that was to tell the truth.

He spent several days and nights trying to work out what to do or say. In the midst of the turmoil, he focused his thoughts and decided to do what he believed was right. His was not an easy decision to make.

On the morning of 17 August, he called the incident room and asked for Liam Hickey, the Detective Sergeant who always seemed to be in the centre of things.