The murder of Patricia O'Connor (19 May 1956 – 29 May 2017) occurred in Dublin. Patricia O'Connor was an Irish woman whose dismembered remains were found scattered along a road in the

Wicklow Mountains The Wicklow Mountains (, archaic: '' Cualu'') form the largest continuous upland area in Ireland. They occupy the whole centre of County Wicklow and stretch outside its borders into the counties of Dublin, Wexford and Carlow. Where the mountai ...

in June 2017. Several members of her family were subsequently convicted of concealing her murder by Kieran Greene.

The victim

Patricia O'Connor was a former hospital worker who lived in

Rathfarnham Rathfarnham () is a Southside (Dublin), southside suburb of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in County Dublin. It is south of Terenure, east of Templeogue, and is in the postal districts of Dublin 14 and Dublin 16, 16. It is between the Lo ...

, Dublin. She lived with her husband Augustine ('Gus'), their daughter Louise, Louise's partner Kieran Greene and their three young children, as well as Louise’s two older children from a previous relationship with Keith Johnston.

Events

Discovery of remains

On Saturday 10 June at about 19:45 IST two walkers on the Military Road near

Enniskerry Enniskerry (historically ''Annaskerry'', from ) is a village in County Wicklow, Ireland. The population was 2,008 at the 2022 census. Location The village is situated on the Glencullen River in the foothills of the Wicklow Mountains in the ...

found human remains. The remains found were a torso and

Bray Bray may refer to: Places France * Bray, Eure, in the Eure ''département'' * Bray, Saône-et-Loire, in the Saône-et-Loire ''département'' * Bray-Dunes, in the Nord ''département'' * Bray-en-Val, in the Loiret ''département'' * Bray-et-Lû ...

Garda station began investigating. Some 30 km of roads in Wicklow were closed off during the search. The Garda Water Unit discovered remains near the Glenmacnass Waterfall near to where they had previously found remains. Defence Forces personnel also found remains near Lough Brea Lower. On Tuesday 13 June a bag containing the head and hands of the deceased were found and limbs were also discovered. Gardaí confirmed the remains are those of an adult woman. A man in his thirties was arrested in

Wexford Wexford ( ; archaic Yola dialect, Yola: ''Weiseforthe'') is the county town of County Wexford, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the ...

in connection with the remains. On Wednesday 14 June the deceased was named locally as Patricia O'Connor, a 61 year old resident of

who was reported missing on the second of June. Her remains were found scattered across 15 locations in the Wicklow Mountains.

Garda announcement

Gardaí believe that she was killed with a blow from a blunt instrument at the end of May during a row in Rathfarnham. They also believe that her remains were dismembered in a field outside

Kilmuckridge Kilmuckridge (), formerly Ford or The Ford, is a village in County Wexford in Ireland, near the Irish Sea coast. As of the 2016 census, the village had a population of 722 people, having more than tripled in size (from 235) in the 20 years since ...

and buried there in a shallow grave for two days before being disinterred and scattered along the Military Road in Wicklow.

Charges brought

On Thursday 15 June Kieran Greene, a 32-year-old man from Rathfarnham was charged with O'Connor’s murder at

Tallaght Tallaght ( ; , ) is a southwestern outer suburb of Dublin, Ireland. The central village area was the site of a monastic settlement from at least the 8th century, which became one of medieval Ireland's more important monastic centres. Up to th ...

District Court. He was arrested that morning at Bray Garda station and when charged claimed "it was self defence". Justice Patricia McNamara remanded him to appear at Cloverhill Court the following Thursday. On Thursday 22 June Kieran Greene was charged with the murder and appeared in court via videolink. He spoke only to confirm his name and that he could see the court. Detective Garda David Connolly said they needed formal directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions. Judge Victor Blake remanded Greene to appear in court via videolink four weeks later. On Saturday 2 September a 73-year-old man was arrested in

County Meath County Meath ( ; or simply , ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in the Eastern and Midland Region of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is bordered by County Dublin to the southeast, County ...

and two women, aged 19 and 38 were arrested in Dublin. They were held in Bray and Wicklow Garda stations. They were released the following day. On Tuesday 26 September a 40-year-old man was arrested in Dublin and was held at Bray Garda station. In October 2018 Augustine O'Connor (Patricia O'Connor's husband) Louise O'Connor (her daughter), Louise's ex-partner Keith Johnson and Louise's daughter Stephanie were charged with impeding the investigation into Patricia O'Connor's murder.

Trial

On 15 January 2020 Kieran Greene went on trial for the murder of Patricia O'Connor. On 25 February 2020 he was found guilty of murdering his former partner's mother by bludgeoning her in the bathroom of their home. On 26 February 2020 Stephanie O'Connor was found guilty of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Greene, knowing or believing him to have murdered her grandmother on 29 May 2017. The jury accepted the prosecution case that she had disguised herself as her grandmother on 29 May 2017 to conceal O'Connor's death. On 27 February 2020 Louise O'Connor was found guilty of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Kieran Greene, knowing or believing him to have murdered her mother Patricia O’Connor on May 29, 2017. On 28 February 2020 Keith Johnston was found guilty of impeding the apprehension or prosecution of Kieran Greene, knowing or believing him to have murdered Patricia O’Connor on May 29, 2017. He had denied assisting Greene in buying DIY tools in Woodie's, Mr Price, B&Q and Shoe Zone, Tallaght on 9 June 2017. The jury accepted the prosecution charge that Johnston knew or suspected that the tools were to be used in the dismemberment of O'Connor’s remains. Johnston was Louise O'Connor’s former partner and father of two of her children, including Stephanie O'Connor.

Sentencing

Sentencing was originally scheduled for 20 April 2020, but because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

it was postponed. The judge proposed that the sentencing should happen on 22 June and that a

victim impact statement A victim impact statement is a written or oral statement made as part of the judicial legal process, which allows crime victims the opportunity to speak during the sentencing of the convicted person or at subsequent parole hearings. Overview One ...

be received on that date. A victim impact statement was read by Patricia's son Richard O'Connor on 22 June 2020. He said that his ability to trust people had been affected and processing the lies to him had caused him sleepless nights. His children had lost their grandmother and she would not be able to pass on her love of gardening, art, baking and nature to them. In June 2020 Kieran Greene was sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering O'Connor. Stephanie O'Connor was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment, and her mother Louise was sentenced to 2 and a half years' imprisonment. Keith Johnston was sentenced to 3 years' imprisonment. Augustine O'Connor, who had already pleaded guilty to reporting his wife as a missing person despite knowing she was already dead, was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:O'Connor, Patricia History of County Wexford History of County Wicklow History of County Dublin June 2017 crimes in Europe Deaths by person in the Republic of Ireland Female murder victims People murdered in the Republic of Ireland Murder victims from County Dublin 2017 murders in the Republic of Ireland