47 - Family Secrets: The death of Brian McGrath

In 1987, Brian McGrath disappeared. His wife, Vera, said he'd gone to Holland to find work. That he was abusive and delusional. But 6 years later, their eldest daughter Veronica told police that her mother, and her fiance at the time, had beaten Brian McGrath to death and buried and burned his body at their home in Coole, Co. Westmeath.

Who murdered Brian McGrath?

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Theme Music:

Quinn’s Song: The Dance Begins Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Additional Music:   Allemande (Sting) by Wahneta Meixsell. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources:

Barry Cummins, The Cold Case Files: on the trial of Ireland's undetected killers (Dublin: Gill and McMillan, 2012)    Purchase here

Sandra Mara, Dead Men Talk (Dublin: Poolbeg Press, 2016)   Purchase here

Veronica McGrath (with Yvonne Kinsella), Witness to Evil (Dublin: Hachette Books, 2011)   Purchase here

DPP v Vera McGrath [2013] IECCA 12 

“Vera McGrath gets 18 months for helping dispose of husband” in The Irish Times https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/vera-mcgrath-gets-18-months-for-helping-dispose-of-husband-1.1821924 (5 June 2014)   

“Vera McGrath sentenced to 18 months for helping to dispose of husband's body” in The Irish Independent https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/vera-mcgrath-sentenced-to-18-months-for-helping-to-dispose-of-husbands-body-30333389.html (5 June 2014)

“McGrath sentenced for helping to dispose husband's body” from RTE.ie https://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0605/621781-vera-mcgrath/ (5 June 2014)   

“McGrath convicted of murdering husband in cold case trial” in The Irish Examiner https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/mcgrath-convicted-of-murdering-husband-in-cold-case-trial-466911.html (26 July 2010) 

Natasha Reid, “McGrath told gardai 'I helped beat and bury my husband'” in The Evening Herald https://www.herald.ie/news/mcgrath-told-gardai-i-helped-beat-and-bury-my-husband-27956419.html (9 July 2010)   

Brian Kavanagh, “First cold case murder verdict is overturned” in The Evening Herald https://www.herald.ie/news/courts/first-cold-case-murder-verdict-is-overturned-29125220.html(12 March 2013)