Patrick Quirke has been found GUILTY of murdering his love rival – local DJ Bobby ‘Mr. Moonlight’ Ryan.
The jury convicted the 50-year-old farmer by majority verdict after deliberating for just over twenty and a half hours.
Tippeary farmer Quirke first took his seat in the dock over three months ago – making his one of the longest murder trials in the history of the State.
The prosecution’s case was simple, but proving it was anything but. Mary Lowry, the woman at the centre of a love triangle involving the accused and Bobby Ryan, was their most significant witness.
She had an affair with Quirke shortly after her husband died in 2007 and was in a relationship with Mr. Ryan when he went missing in June 2011.
The defence tagged her as a “dangerous and unreliable” witness. Quirke, a married 50-year-old farmer from Breanshamore, Co. Tipperary, wanted her back and the local DJ stood in his way.
He was the one who found Bobby’s body in an underground tank on her land in April 2013. The prosecution suggested he staged the discovery in an attempt to take control of the situation before someone else found it.
Quirke had motive and opportunity but all of the evidence against him was circumstantial. In the end, the jurors felt it was enough to convict. He’s now facing the mandatory life sentence for murder.
