by John Mooney
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.
Mulhall said he wanted to talk. This was an unexpected move. Hickey wasted no time in arranging to meet, and called Mangan within minutes of the call ending, to alert him. The two detectives interpreted the contact as a good omen. Their analysis proved correct.
Mulhall had wanted to meet somewhere discreet, and suggested a side street off Cork Street around 11.30am that same morning. When he arrived, he shook their hands; he was not hostile. In fact, Mangan sensed he was nervous and agitated.
Tradecraft had taught the two detectives to remain silent at times like this. They both knew Mulhall was in a no-win situation and was trying to do the right thing, though it was clear he wanted to make sure he wouldn’t be charged as an accessory. Eventually he began to speak.
He spoke in a low voice at first. Linda, he said, knew where Noor’s head was hidden. He continued to speak, all the time struggling to say the words. He urged Mangan to talk to his eldest daughter personally. He said he knew his daughter; that she was a good woman, and was sure she would tell the truth. Linda, he said, was terrified, and he was afraid for her. His analysis seemed reasonable, certainly from a father’s point of view.
The meeting lasted no more than ten minutes. Mangan said he understood the situation, and promised to call to the family home later that night. He gave Mulhall his word and they shook hands.
That night, Mangan and Hickey drove to the Mulhall home in Kilclare Gardens in Tallaght. They were greeted by Mulhall Snr, who was waiting to meet them when they arrived. He invited the detectives into his home, offered them some tea, and asked them to sit in the front room.
He explained that Linda wasn’t there yet but was on her way home. He said she had just collected her social welfare from Kevin Street and was delayed. They waited for almost two hours but Linda didn’t return home. Mulhall tried to reach her on her mobile phone but it was turned off. Eventually Mangan said it was best that they leave, though he promised to call back in the morning. This was a setback, but he didn’t give up hope. Instead he left his mobile phone switched on, should Linda return.
Later that night, Mulhall Snr called; he sounded distraught. He said Linda had been admitted to hospital. She had tried to cut her wrists while in the throes of a depression.
Mangan asked if she was okay, adding that his team was there to help if there was anything they could do. This was a sincere offer. Her father thanked him for his kindness once more.
*****
It was clear that Linda was not an unrepentant killer, but she had not made the decision to confess. No one on the team believed Charlotte to be a calculated murderer either. Although some possessed doubts about their father’s motives, he was largely considered an honest man caught up in a calamitous and horrible scenario. Life for him was slowly descending into a nightmare and this was compounded by Linda’s self harm. This is why the team waited two days before attempting to reopen their discussions, though it is noteworthy that the team were taking him on face value.
Hickey was tasked with making the call to him and arranging to call once again to the house—providing that Linda was well enough to accept a visit.
Mulhall asked them to come at once.
However, when they arrived at the house at 11.15am that same morning; she refused to talk. The detectives could not even make eye contact with her; she sat in the corner staring at the ground; looking inconsolable.
Mangan attempted to speak but she would not respond. All she would say was that she knew nothing about Farah.
She denied all knowledge of what had happened to Noor. She was her old self again, or so they suspected. Both Mangan and Hickey knew she was lying, but not in a conventional sense; they felt she was deeply troubled, her mind in turmoil. It was plain to see. She looked as if she had not slept in days.
Mangan made some small talk for about 20 minutes. He then asked her about the injuries on her arms. For some reason, the comment took Linda by surprise. Slowly she began to open up. Awkwardly, she explained that she had cut herself.
Mangan sympathised, telling her that she was helping no one by hurting herself, and that she needed to look after herself.
Hickey agreed with the sentiments and the two of them urged her to tell the truth. Linda, though, wasn’t ready. Exasperated, Mangan said he would do whatever he could to help, but told her that the inquiry was not going to go away.
He spoke directly and honestly to her. He said he believed she knew where Noor’s head was buried. Linda made a half-hearted attempt at denying the allegation, but not even she believed her own words.
Finally, when he had said all he could, Mangan proclaimed the inquiry would continue until he found out what had happened.
Linda didn’t interpret this as a threat, as it wasn’t. In her heart, she understood that it was just a statement of fact.
John Mulhall Snr had said nothing during the conversation. He now brought in tea, which relaxed the atmosphere.
Towards the end of the informal meeting, Mangan mentioned that her brothers John Jnr and James had contacted the incident room, and said he would be speaking to other members of the family. This took Linda by surprise temporarily, but she didn’t break down. Once again, she said she couldn’t help.
The detectives had now exhausted every avenue with her. Neither Mangan nor Hickey reacted to her denials, which they knew were lies. Having tried everything, Mangan asked if he could speak to her father alone. Linda then left the room.
John Mulhall Snr returned moments later. He asked the two officers if she had confessed to anything, or had even been helpful, only to be told that she hadn’t. He seemed genuinely disappointed. He shook his head, and said he knew that she knew where it was, referring to Noor’s missing head.
Privately, Mangan resigned himself to the fact that this was not going to be easy. He thanked Mulhall for his help, and told him he’d done what he could.
At that moment, the father’s mobile rang. It was his daughter, Marie. He spoke quietly to her for a few minutes, and when he finished, he said Marie wished to make a statement that Saturday if possible, as Charlotte had spoken to her about Noor’s death.
Mangan thanked him for his help and said he understood. He didn’t need to say any more.
Rather than leave Linda on bad terms, the detective made a point of thanking her for her time and said he hoped her injuries would heal. He then shook her hand.
Mangan and Hickey left the house not really knowing their next move. The two drove back into the city, and wondered about Linda. Privately they both feared she would hurt herself again, as she appeared to be deeply depressed.
The investigation was once more helped by Marie, who had done the right thing from the start. At all times, she had told her father and two sisters to tell the truth, if not for themselves, for their loved ones. She no longer spoke to her mother, so she had no influence there.
On that night, she and Linda argued. According to her statement:
‘Myself and Linda Mulhall had a blazing row. Linda Mulhall seemed to think that she was in the clear. I then told my father, John, who was present during this row that if Linda Mulhall did not tell the police what she knew I was leaving. I then left the house. A short time later my father rang me on my mobile and told me that he was going to ring the police and get them to come to Linda and she was going to tell them everything.’
*****
Mangan was called to a meeting in Coolock. Moments after he arrived on the north side of Dublin city, his phone rang. It was Linda; she was crying and was barely comprehensible.
‘Christopher, Christopher, I need to talk to you.’
Mangan was taken aback. He asked if she wished to talk about the murder. She said she did. He told her he would call around to the house at 4.45pm that same evening.
He returned as promised with Hickey. As before, John Mulhall Snr met them at the door. He directed them to a bedroom that was built in the back garden of the house. When they entered the room, they saw Linda sitting on the bed. She was crying uncontrollably. Mangan walked towards her and asked if she wanted her father to stay, but she said she’d prefer to talk alone.
Perhaps for the first time in months, she felt relieved. Wiping away the tears, she admitted that she, with Charlotte, had killed Noor.
Mangan was legally obliged at this stage to caution her and ask her to make a statement. He explained that he was duty bound to do so. She accepted his words as sincere and said she just wanted to tell the truth.
Hickey then cautioned her in a standard manner:
‘You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so, but anything you do say will be taken down and may be given in evidence.’
He took out his notebook while asking her if she understood the caution. He then proceeded to write down what was the beginning of Linda’s confession, word for word. She continued to cry uncontrollably as she spoke about the events of 20 March.
It was clear that she had been deeply traumatised by what had happened; perhaps horrified by her own actions. She had now accepted that she could not brazen this out.
Mangan offered to take her to Tallaght Garda Station to record her interview, but she declined.
She wanted to confess there.
‘I want to tell you the truth about what happened Farah,’ she said.
She recalled the events of that afternoon and specifically how the atmosphere in Richmond Cottages had suddenly turned. She spoke honestly, not hiding anything, and then asked if she could use the toilet, at 6pm. When she returned, she spoke about the actual killing.
She didn’t attempt to limit her own involvement in the death. She broke down crying several times, while confessing, and spoke about the effects of the dismemberment.
When she finished, Hickey read over the notes of the conversation, which he crafted into a statement. She agreed with the notes and signed them. The time was now 8pm.
That evening was bright, prompting Mangan to ask Linda if she would take him to the field where she had buried the head. She agreed to do this without hesitation. Mangan left the room momentarily to tell her father what had happened; he seemed relieved. The detectives then left with Linda in a patrol car.
Linda directed them out of the estate and towards Killinarden Hill, where she’d hidden Noor’s head in a field.
Hickey parked the patrol car on a grass verge adjacent to the field. Mangan and Linda stepped out of the car and walked towards the area. The entrance to the field was covered with rubbish and protected by barbed wire. Mangan held the barbed wire down while Linda stepped across.
The two then walked down the field. While they walked, she pointed at a burned out car she recalled seeing previously. She directed Mangan to a clearing near some bushes at the entrance to the ditch; she then got down on her hunkers.
She pointed towards a cement pipe in the ditch and said she had smashed the head and thrown it into a stream. This was what she thought she remembered doing with it, but it must have been hard for her to remember exactly, considering the amount of alcohol she had consumed that night. Mangan could do no more. He helped her out of the ditch and they walked back to the car.
As they did so, Mangan asked if she would go to Tallaght Garda Station to have her statement read over to her on video; he was leaving nothing to chance. While his instincts told him Linda was being honest, experience had taught him that she could change her mind just as easily.
However, Linda volunteered to help him without hesitation. They arrived at Tallaght Station at 9.15pm. Mick Leahy was the Duty Sergeant in charge that night, and he booked them into an interview room.
Inside the room, Mangan explained once more that he wanted to record her statement being read out to her on video. He then cautioned her.
Hickey then began writing out the statement again. Leahy had explained to Linda that she was not under arrest and could leave at any time. She said she understood.
Hickey then read out the statement she had made in her home, this time recording it for the record.
Linda didn’t waiver. She agreed with everything and identified that it was her signature on the statement he’d taken earlier. During this interview, she once again broke down crying several times. Privately, Mangan and Hickey couldn’t help but be moved by her distress; she was inconsolable. The more she talked about the actual killing and dismemberment, the more she cried; though she insisted that she wanted to get the interview over with. In some ways, they felt she was expunging the memories of the killing through confessing.
Once the notes were read over to her and the paperwork was in order, the two detectives took her home.
On the journey back to Kilclare Gardens, Mangan asked if she would point out the locations where she had first hidden the head and discarded the knives used in the dismemberment. Although she was tired, the park was on their way home, so she agreed.
This took no more than a few minutes.
When they arrived at Kilclare Gardens later that night, John Mulhall Snr was there waiting at the front door.
He greeted Mangan with a handshake; then hugged his daughter. He looked as if he were about to cry.
Linda was also very emotional and hugged both Mangan and Hickey. She thanked them for understanding and said sorry for all the trouble she had caused. She broke down once more.
The detectives were seen leaving the house by Marie that same night.
‘I spoke to her [Linda] and asked her if she had told the story. She told me she had told them everything. She explained to me about Farah’s head. She told me she had moved the head from Tymon Park North to Killinarden Park. She told me that all three of them, herself, Charlotte and Kathleen Mulhall, had buried the head, but she had moved it herself to Killinarden Park. I told her to tell the story of Farah Noor’s death to the Garda so that my father would left alone,’ she said in her statement.
She only ever wanted to protect her father, who had told her that he had not been involved. She repeated this denial to gardaí in her own statements.
‘My father kept saying he had nothing to do with Farah’s death,’ she said.
From that moment on, she never discussed Noor’s death with Linda. Nor did she raise it with Charlotte.
‘I did not want to know,’ she later explained to gardaí.
The two detectives left Tallaght that night at 10.15pm and headed back to Fitzgibbon Street Garda Station to write up a record of what had happened. They alerted their own superiors to the developments and worked late into the night on their respective files before heading home. Linda’s confession was not the end of the case; it was only the beginning.
Chapter Six
‘Always tell the truth. That way, you don’t have to remember what you said.’
