84 - Dark Saga: The murder of Philomena Gillane

In May of 1994, Philomena Gillane was 7 months pregnant. On the morning of Wednesday the 11th, she left her home early to head to work. But she never arrived. She was found dead in the boot of her own car 25 miles away, at Athlone Train station.  Her family would spend the next 3 years in and out of courts dealing with the fallout from her brutal murder, and in a search for justice that was never fully achieved.  Join me at CrimeCon UK on June 12-13th 2021. For more information and tickets visit crimecon.co.uk. Use the code MENSREA for 10% off. Purchase a ticket with the code and get in touch to get a free Mens Rea T-Shirt (limited to first 10 listeners who contact me) With thanks to our sponsors for this episode: Try the casual mobile puzzle game Best Fiends today! Find it on the Apple App store and Google Play! Find us on Facebook or Twitter! With thanks to our supporters on Patreon! Donate today to get access to bonus and ad-free episodes! Check out the Mens Rea Merch Store! Theme Music: Quinn’s Song: The Dance Begins Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Additional Music:   Allemande (Sting) by Wahneta Meixsell. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ Sources: “Missing pregnant woman sought” in The Irish Times(18 May 1994) p. 2. Paul O'Neill, “Murdered woman was stabbed, shot in the back” in The Irish Times (19 May 1994) p. 1. Edward O'Loughlin, “Staff at Loughlinstown Hosital to hold special Mass for dead colleague” in The Irish Times(19 May 1994) p. 7 Paul O'Neill, “Woman's body lies in car as life goes on at busy station” in The Irish Times (19 May 1994) p. 7. Michael Finlan, “Latest violent death further blow to tranquility of Galway villages” in The Irish Times(19 May 1994) p. 7. Fergus Black, “Cheery victim 'was the careful type'” in Irish Independent (19 May 1994) p. 7. Brian McDonald, “Cars fan spotted neatly parked Kadett” in The Irish Independent (19 May 1994) p. 7 Don Lavery, “Gone five when reported missing” in The Irish Independent (19 May 1994) p. 6. Paul O'Neill, “Victim may have been fleeing” in The Irish Times (20 May 1994) p. 1. Annmaria McAnearney and Brian McDonald, “Murder: photo-fits of two suspects” in The Evening Herald(20 May 1994) p. 4. Paul O'Neill, “Community left seeking some rationale for recent events” in The Irish Times (20 May 1994) p. 6. Annemarie McEnearney, “Husband left behind to move into 'dream home'” in The Irish Independent(20 May 1994) p. 9 Paul O'Neill “Gardai suspect two may be involved in killing” in The Irish Times (21 May 1994) p. 5. Michael Finlan, “Caltra weeps for its dead daughter” in The Irish Times (21 May 1994) p. 5. Michael Finlan, “Silent crowds mourn as murder victim buried” in The Irish Times (23 May 1994) p. 5. “Problems facing murder hunt cops” in The Sunday World(22 May 1994) p. 4. Mike McNiffe, “It's awful. Oh God, I'm in a terrible state” in The Sunday World (22 May 1994) p. 4. Joanne McElgunn, “Who's sentence an unborn baby to death” in The Sunday World (24 July 1994) p. 10-11. Paul O'Neill, “Gardai widen search in Gillane killing” in The Irish Times (24 May 1994) p. 3. Jim Cusack, “Two being held in Gillane murder inquiry” in The Irish Times (25 May 1994) p. 1. “Gillane search centred on home” in The Irish Times(25 May 1994) p. 4. Michael Finlan, “Gardai detain another man over Gillane murder” in The Irish Times (26 May 1994) p. 1. Michael Finlan, “Gillane case: two freed by gardai” in The Irish Times (27 May 1994) p. 1. Paul O'Neill, “Mrs Gillane's body found in night clothes” in The Irish Times (28 May 1994) p. 1. “Philomena 'had nightclothes on'” in The Evening Herald (28 May 1994) p. 3. “Legal snags hit Gillane murder case” in The Sunday Tribune (29 May 1994) p. 5. “Weapons search continues” in The Irish Times(30 May 1994) p. 4. Paul O'Neill, “Man eliminated from murder inquiry, two others still sought” in The Irish Times(1 June 1994) p. 3. Brenda Power “Murder at dawn in Caltra” in The Sunday Tribune(24 July 1994) p. 7. Paul O'Neill, “Gardai hold man in Gillane murder inquiry” in The Irish Times (27 July 1994) p. 2. “Man released from custody” in The Irish Times(29 July 1994) p. 5. For a full list of sources please see mensreapod.com