About This Episode
Elizabeth Plunkett was 23 years old when she disappeared on the last weekend of summer in 1976. The Dublin native had traveled to Brittas Bay in County Wicklow for a night away with friends. After an argument or moment of embarrassment, she walked away from the group around 10:30pm. She would never return.
Weeks later, her body was found—brutally murdered, bound to a lawnmower, and dumped in the sea. The official cause of death recorded at inquest was asphyxiation, though she had been raped and strangled.
Two men were responsible: John Shaw and Geoffrey Evans, now recognized as Ireland's first known serial killers. Both admitted to abducting Elizabeth, raping her, and strangling her before disposing of her body. Yet despite their confessions, the State dropped charges against them for her murder. No conviction. No trial. No justice.
Instead, Shaw and Evans were prosecuted and convicted for the August or September 1976 of Mary Duffy in Galway—another victim taken in that brutal summer. While they served time for that crime, Elizabeth's case remained officially closed, her murderers' confessions seemingly insufficient for court action.