Meenacross murder mystery: 20 years on from 'cold, callous' killing of Shaun Duffy

Kevin Duffy knew there was something amiss when he made the short walk to his brother Shaun’s home.

There was a bite in the air above Traigheanna Bay, but there was something more chilling afoot.

At around 2.30pm on January 29, 2005, Shaun Duffy was found, face down on a sofa, his home at Meenacross ransacked and an 18-inch arrow protruding from his right arm.

“This was the perpetuation of a cruel, calculated, cold, callous death of a human being,” Coroner John Cannon said at an inquest into the death in 2010.

Twenty years on, the murder of Shaun Duffy remains shrouded in mystery. No one has been arrested in connection with the incident. 

An Garda Síochána say that solving the murder “continues to be a priority”.

Shaun Duffy had a keen interest in horses

Locals in remote Meenacross, a little under 7km from Dungloe, rarely speak of the killing let alone the circumstances surrounding it.

Kevin Duffy, just 18 at the time, found a scene akin to a horror movie when he went to his brother’s home; blood splattered on the walls and doors, furniture tossed, turned and torn.

Earlier that day, he repeatedly tried to call his brother on both his mobile and landline phones. 

Around 12 hours earlier, Kevin last saw Shaun as he went home following a party. Shaun was described as being in “good form” during the night.

They had socialised the night before in the Strand View bar and returned to their mother’s home where they enjoyed pizzas before Shaun, the second eldest of eight siblings, left at around 2.20am, making the 500-yard journey to his bungalow.

A 36-year-old bachelor, Shaun Duffy worked as an undertaker and a mechanic. He was interested and involved in horses and motorsport, while he dealt in furniture and antiques. 

Kevin Duffy recalled at his brother’s interest how Shaun was “flashing €500 notes about” in the locality in the weeks leading up to his death. He said Shaun had made around €20,000 from business transactions in that time.

Shaun Duffy, who stood at 6’4” met a grim end. It has been suggested that his attacker, or attackers lay in wait as he returned home that morning. 

There were no signs of a break-in, but there was evidence of a struggle inside. 

The remote house where Shaun Duffy was murdered

Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis travelled to the scene and also carried out a postmortem on the deceased, who received four stab wounds to his body and nine blows to the head, consistent with those delivered by a blunt object. Investigators believe that the arrow lodged in Shaun Duffy’s arm was fired by a crossbow.

A considerable amount of blood was sprayed around the sitting room and a coffee table was smashed. Two of the stab wounds to the body “caused serious injuries to two of the great vessels of the body in the chest,” Dr Curtis said.

Dr Cannon told the eight-person jury at the inquest that this was “no accidental death”. A verdict of unlawful killing was returned, a finding that was welcomed by the Duffy family at the time.

The cause of death, in accordance with the evidence given by Dr Curtis, were multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma to the head.

“He did have a lot of enemies and lived in fear of what might happen to him,” his mother, Kathleen, told the inquest.

Shaun worked as a bouncer at many events in west Donegal, including the Mary From Dungloe festival and the Meenacross Show.

A major investigation was mounted after the discovery of his body. Around 40 detectives and uniformed officers assembled in west Donegal, led by the then Chief Superintendent Noel White. 

Shaun Duffy

Aside from the arrow, no weapons have been recovered; those who wielded them remain at large.

At Mr Duffy’s funeral, on February 3, 2005, at St Patrick’s Church in Meenacross, Fr John Joe Duffy, a cousin, made an emotional plea for the culprits to hand themselves in.

“Not only have you murdered Shaun Duffy, you have also done it to his family, his neighbours and those community. Life comes from God and nobody has the right to end another’s life. 

“You will never be able to life with the crime you have committed. Each day it will eat you up, more and more. The only way to free your conscience is to hand yourselves over to the gardai.”

Door-to-door enquiries were conducted and officers combed the area in a search for clues.

Three years ago, it was reported that detectives were examining allegations of garda involvement in Shaun Duffy’s death. It was indicated that the incident could have been connected to the 2003 disappearance of James Curran, who has not been seen since collecting his pension in Dungloe on July 16, 2003 after leaving his home at Cois Locha.

Gardai in Milford, led by Superintendent David Kelly, continue to appeal for information on the callous killing and retain an open mind on whether the perpetrators were locals or from outside the community. 

Superintendent David Kelly said: “The solving of this murder continues to be a priority for An Garda Síochána.

“The investigation team at Milford Garda Station would like to thank those who have offered valuable information or assistance to the investigation to date.

“With the passage of time, some person may now be in a position to provide information to investigating Gardaí that they could not provide at the time, or maybe some person who did provide information at the time may be now in a position to provide further information.

“Gardaí encourage anyone whom they may or may not have spoken to previously, to come forward.

“My colleagues and I continue to appeal for information in this case and believe that a number of people have yet to come forward who may now be in a position to assist in bringing those responsible to justice.

“Any information received will be treated with absolute confidentiality.

Over 1500 enquiries have been conducted and statements have been taken from over 600 people.

The jigsaw is still missing a centrepiece, however. 

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Anyone with information is asked to contact Milford Garda Station on 074 915 3060 or the Garda Confidential line on 1800 666 111.