57 year old Rose Farrelly was found dead in her own home on the morning of the 15th February 1993. It appeared that the house had been broken into, and then the single woman had been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death. 

The trial for Rose's murder was the first in Ireland to use DNA evidence.

But the reason for Rose's murder remains unclear - it appears the answer may be the most frightening of all. 

He did it because he could. 

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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/

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Sources:

Ann O'Loughlin and Bairbre Power, “Pure Evil” in The Evening Herald(16 February 1993) p.p. 1-2

Paul O'Neill, “Robberies linked to murder of woman” in The Irish Times(17 February 1993) p. 2.

Ann O'Loughlin and Bairbre Power, “Rose killing: gardai probe burglaries” in The Evening Herald(17 February 1993) p. 2.

Paul O'Neill, “Faulty lock on victim's door” in The Irish Times (18 February 1993) p. 8.

“Murder hunt: 500 houses visited” in The Evening Herald(20 February 1993) p. 7

Paul O'Neill, “Garda file for DPP on woman's murder” in The Irish Times (22 February 1993) p. 2.

“Murdered woman was also raped” in The Irish Times(4 March 1993) p. 2.

“Dublin man on murder charge” in The Irish Times(27 April 1993) p. 4.

“Ring cut from woman's finger, murder trial told” in The Irish Times (4 February 1994) p. 4.

Mary Carolan, “Murder trial told of brutal sex attack” in The Irish Times (4 February 1994) p 6

“Woman died from asphyxia, murder trial told” in The Irish Times(5 February 1994) p. 4.

“Pathologist says victim may have been smothered” in The Irish Times(8 February 1994) p. 4.

Mary Carolan, “Attacker smothered woman (57) court told” in The Irish Independent (8 February 1994) p. 6.

“Sharp knife was used on hand, hair of dead woman, court hears” in The Irish Times (9 February 1994) p. 5

“Adjournment in murder trial” in The Irish Times(10 February 1994) p. 4.

Mary Carolan, “Trial told of 'red-haired man' in pub” in The Irish Independent (11 February 1994) p. 4.

“Man had been in pub near murder scene” in The Irish Times(11 February 1994) p. 4.

for a full list of sources please see mensreapod.com