Ruth Lawrence found guilty of Lough Sheelin murders

Originally from Clontarf but with an address of Mountnugent, Lawrence pleaded not guilty to the 2014 murders of Anthony Keegan (33) and Eoin O'Connor (32).

ELEVEN years after the bodies of two missing Dublin men were found buried in a shallow grave on a lake island, Ruth Lawrence, the only person to face trial over their deaths, has been found guilty of their murders.

The jury returned a majority verdict in the trial of Lawrence who was accused of killing the two men and dumping their bodies on an island in Lough Sheelin over a decade ago.

The jury at the Central Criminal Court agreed 11-1 with the prosecution that Lawrence and her then boyfriend, Neville van der Westhuizen, worked as a 'unit' to lure Eoin O'Connor to their home in St Patrick's cottage on the shoreline of the Westmeath side of Lough Sheelin.

The jury heard that Mr O’Connor sold drugs to van der Westhuizen, who had run up a debt of around €70,000.

The prosecution said Ruth Lawrence shot Eoin O’Connor in the stomach but the shot was not fatal and was quickly followed up by a shot to the head by her boyfriend.

It was the prosecution's case that 33 -year-old Anthony Keegan who arrived at the couple's home with O'Connor was shot by van der Westhuizen.

The jury accepted their argument by a majority verdict of 10-2 that there was evidence beyond a reasonable doubt he and Lawrence also acted as a team in that murder, and were equally liable for the outcome.

The prosecution said both men were shot in a field near Patrick's Cottage and that the bodies were moved to the island , approximately 100 metres away, later that night.

The trial heard evidence that Ruth Lawrence had enquired of her landlord about taking a boat out on Lough Sheelin - where the deceased's bodies were eventually found - the day before the men were last seen alive.

According to evidence, the last phonecall between Eoin O'Connor and Neville van der Westhuizen was around 7:10pm on April 22, 2014.

Lawrence, who did not give evidence in the trial and was never interviewed by gardaí, fled to South Africa in the aftermath of the murders and was extradited back to Ireland in May 2023.

The trial heard that, while in South Africa, she feared she would become a victim of human trafficking and had stayed in women’s refuges.

Van der Westhuizen is currently serving a 15 year sentence in Durban for murder, attempted murder and kidnapping in a separate case. An application to return him to Ireland to face trial will take place when he has finished serving his sentence in South Africa.