Man who murdered Kildare woman dies after falling ill in prison
Phyllis Murphy's body was found in a wood on Kildare/Wicklow border
Convicted murderer John Crerar, who evaded justice for two decades, has died while serving a life sentence for killing 23-year-old Phyllis Murphy in 1979, RTE is reporting.
Ms Murphy, from Kildare town, was abducted while waiting for a bus in Newbridge town on December 22.
Her naked body was found in mid-January 1980 in the Wicklow Gap - 30 kilometres from where she was last seen alive - after a massive search across Kildare and Wicklow.
Crerer's murder trial was held in 2002 after DNA breakthroughs led to blood samples given by him in 1980 being matched two decades later with semen samples recovered from Ms Murphy's body.
According to RTE's Prime Time, Crerar took ill at Arbour Hill Prison last Friday and was transferred to Dublin’s Mater Hospital where he died on Saturday. He was 76 years old.
The Irish Prison Service told RTÉ in a statement that it could confirm the death of a person in custody in Arbour Hill Prison and extended sympathies to family and friends of the deceased.