Man (70s) arrested over border murder released on bail
A MAN arrested in connection with the 1973 murder of Marian Beattie in Aughnacloy has been released without charge.
In a statement, the PSNI Legacy Investigation Branch confirmed the man, in his 70s, arrested last Thursday, July 2, has since been released on bail following questioning “to allow for further police enquiries”.
Marian Beattie was just 18 when last seen leaving a charity dance near the Monaghan border on March 31, 1973.
Her partially-clothed body was discovered several hours later at the bottom of Hadden’s Quarry close to the venue, 10 minutes from Emyvale.
A metal bar, believed to have been used to strike the teen, was found beside her body. The buttons of her blouse were also found neatly stacked beside her body along with several spent matches.
No one has ever been charged with or convicted of her murder.
Marian from Portadown had attended the gig on the border with a friend and her brother who was playing in the band on the night. She was last seen leaving the dance at 1am with a young man.
Marian’s case was the subject of a TV documentary called ‘Murder in the Badlands’. In it, Marian’s friend Nuala Wilson recounts how, when she and Marian’s family went to Aughnacloy RUC station to report her missing, Nuala recognised someone in the station who had also been at the dance
In the programme, Marian’s brother also said he got a good view of the man who left the dance with Marian, but the photo-fit released by RUC looked nothing like the description he gave.
In June 2025, the Police Ombudsman’s Office in the North recommended the PSNI should commission an independent review of Marian’s murder. The recommendation for an independent review comes after the Police Ombudsman carried out an investigation into the original RUC inquiry into her death and identified numerous failings including how police failed to ensure that all lines of enquiry were progressed, that all suspects were interviewed and that all alibis were checked.
Items recovered from the scene, including articles of clothing and forensic samples were submitted for analysis to the forensic science laboratory and returned to the police in 1974 but there is no record of what happened to them after that and all are now missing.
There were only eight documented contacts between the police and Marian’s family in the 50 years since she was murdered, the ombudsman found.
The Police Ombudsman’s Chief Executive, Hugh Hume, said Marian’s family had not received the service they deserved from the police.
“Although our investigation has found significant errors and omissions during the police enquiries into Marian’s murder, it is my hope that the independent review we have recommended will ensure that every effort is made to uncover the truth about her murder, and to finally bring her killer, if still alive, to justice,” Mr Hume said.
Meanwhile, Marian’s family continue to appeal anyone with information to come forward.
“There are still people out there who know exactly what happened to Marian that fateful night. We would particularly like to hear from anyone who attended the dance or who may have been walking along the road between the dance venue and Hadden’s Quarry that night between 1am and 2am,” the family said in an online statement.