Larry Murphy ‘buried 3 cars on land’ searched in Deirdre Jacob & Jo Jo Dullard probe as new garda info details emerge

A MAN has claimed evil rapist Larry Murphy buried three cars on land now being searched by cops probing the cold case ­murders of Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob.

The major dig of a quarry on rural land along the Wicklow and ­Kildare border, around 8km from where Murphy lived at the time, continued yesterday.

The information gardai are acting on was not new but was flagged following an examination of the cases by the Garda Serious Crime Review Team.

Jo Jo went missing in 1995 while less than three years later Deirdre disappeared in 1998.

Both vanished without a trace before the cases were upgraded to murder in recent years.

Separately, a man who contacted The Irish Sun claimed his pal had previously informed him how ­Murphy arrived on the lands with three cars on a truck some time after the two women vanished.

He said that Murphy ensured that the vehicles were buried very deep before he left the area.

Sicko Murphy had been accessing the fields to go hunting and to practice shooting.

Speaking to The Irish Sun yesterday, the man told us: “Larry Murphy came up with three cars and they were covered in… Now this is a deep, deep quarry.

“Then his name became more linked to the cases and people were talking about him.

“I know a man who asked him to stop shooting on the land.

“At the time Murphy was holding a rifle and I remember my friend saying to me, ‘you think it was the devil looking at you’.

“He thought Larry Murphy was going to shoot him on the spot.”

INFORMATION GIVEN

The man spoke to gardai over a decade ago telling them of the information and sources have ­confirmed he will be spoken to again in the coming weeks.

He added: “It could be a key, it could be an ID, it could actually be bodies. I hope they find something for those families.”

The major search is expected to last until at least the end of the week.

Sources also confirmed that ­witnesses who featured in the original cases may be reinterviewed.

One source told us: “The search being carried out is not new information received but rather old information that came up in a review of both investigations when ­various strands of evidence were being examined. The view has been taken that it could be ­significant and the search was given the go-ahead.

“The search will last a few days at least. It is very likely that witnesses will be spoken to again.”

Officers are looking for any evidence to shed any light on the murder mysteries but are also looking for human remains.

Ms Dullard went missing on November 9, 1995, while on her way home to Callan in Co Kilkenny after socialising in Bruxelles bar on Dublin’s Harry Street.

The 21-year-old missed her last bus to Kilkenny and instead boarded a 10pm bus to Naas, Co Kildare, intending to hitchhike the rest of the way home.

She hitched a lift from Naas to the slip road on the M9 motorway at Kilcullen, Co Kildare, and at 11.15pm got another lift to Moone.

FINAL CALL

There, Ms Dullard called her friend Mary Cullinan at 11.37pm from a phone box.

During that call, Ms Dullard told Ms Cullinan that a car had stopped for her and she was going to take the lift. This was the last known interaction with Ms Dullard.

Ms Jacob was last seen shortly after 3pm near her home at Roseberry, Newbridge in Co Kildare on July 28, 1998.

She was 18 years old at the time of her disappearance and had just completed one year at St Mary’s University in London.

‘PERSON OF INTEREST’

Notorious rapist Murphy is a “person of interest” in both of the cases, but has featured more ­prominently in the Jacob case because of various intelligence.

A file was previously submitted to the Director of Public Prosecutions on Murphy in relation to the Jacob case, but the office ruled in 2022 there wasn’t enough evidence to charge the beast in connection with the disappearance.

It was alleged that Murphy — who fled to London in 2010 where he remains — admitted to the ­murder of missing teenager Jacob, telling a friend in prison: “I did Deirdre Jacob alright.”

He’s said to have made the boast to a killer pal during an ecstasy, cannabis and vodka binge while caged for the rape and false imprisonment of another woman.

FALSE DAWN FEARS

Yesterday, retired Detective Garda Sergeant Alan Bailey said that the families of both women have had a lot of “false dawns”.

He was the national co-ordinator of Operation Trace, which probed missing female cases in the 1990s.

Bailey said: “Even to find the bodies would bring huge closure to the families.

“They’ve had a lot of false dawns in relation to various garda searches over the years that unfortunately didn’t work out.

“I’d be hopeful something will come up which will help the families on this occasion.”

APPEAL

In a statement on the searches, a garda spokesman said: “The search operation is being led by the ­Serious Crime Review Team, Garda National Bureau of Criminal ­Investigation supported by the Garda National Technical Bureau and local resources from Kildare Division as required.

“An Garda Siochana has been and continues to keep the families of Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob updated in relation to these investigations and they have been fully appraised of today’s developments.

“An Garda Siochana appeals to anyone with any information, no matter how small you might believe it to be, to contact any Garda station. Or anyone who wishes to provide information confidentially should contact the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111.”

As gardai began searching the remote site on Monday morning, Deirdre’s parents Michael and ­Bernadette welcomed the news.

‘WAIT AND HOPE’

Michael told us: “We were made aware of a fresh search taking place and we welcome this.

“All we can do is wait and hope that something positive comes from it. The search shows that there is progress in the case, which remains active and ongoing. We would again encourage anyone with the slightest bit of information to come forward and let the Gardai judge it.

“We know this is a very extensive investigation but there could be information out there that can lead to a breakthrough.

“We will continue to search for answers in the hope we can uncover what happened to Deirdre.”

And Michael added: “We would also like to thank everyone who has shown us and other families ­support over the years. Our case is like a jigsaw and we just need to find those missing pieces.”