The chief suspect in the murder of Jo Jo Dullard had a scratch mark on his face and gave contradictory statements to gardaí in the weeks after she went missing 29 years ago.
The man, who is in his 50s, was one of the last people known to have seen her alive, and became a person of interest in the early stages of the investigation.
The Irish Independent has learned that he gave gardaí at least two conflicting accounts, which contained anomalies and false information, when he was initially interviewed about his movements on the night Ms Dullard went missing.
Undated Garda handout photo of Jo Jo Dullard. Photo: An Garda Siochana/PA Wire
He was later categorised as a suspect after the investigation was reviewed by the Garda cold case unit and upgraded to a murder inquiry in 2020.
A source said of this: “His statements were contradictory, and when he was pressed on the discrepancies, he claimed that he didn’t want his partner to know he had given a lift to another woman.
“At the time, some gardaí felt it was suspect, others thought it was nothing malicious. Those statements are now being viewed in an altogether different light given the new lines of inquiry generated as part of the cold-case review.”
Man arrested in connection with murder of Jo Jo Dullard
The man was later also approached by a private detective, hired by the Dullard family, in a covert capacity. The investigator noticed a deep scratch on the man’s face which he believed was suspicious.
The Dullard family subsequently petitioned the government that lands should be searched by gardaí, as well as making repeated pleas over the years.
These lands are where gardaí are now searching along the Wicklow/Kildare border on foot of new inquiries carried out as part of the murder investigation.
The man was arrested on Monday morning in connection with Ms Dullard’s murder.
Ms Dullard was 21 when she went missing as she hitchhiked her way home to Kilkenny from Kildare after getting a bus from Dublin on November 9, 1995. She took a lift at Moone in Co Kildare, and has not been seen since.
The phone box where missing person Jo Jo Dullard was before she went missing in the village of Moone in Co Kildare, November 1995. Photo: RollingNews.ie
The suspect was questioned over the course of two days but made no admissions in relation to the young woman’s disappearance and murder, and was released without charge yesterday afternoon.
Air space over the search site has been restricted during the course of the two-day garda search and machinery has been brought in to excavate, in the hope of uncovering evidence linked to the murder, including her remains, but also any items belonging to her.
If any evidence is recovered, gardaí would be able to re-arrest the suspect for further questioning on the grounds that significant new information or evidence has come to light.
The Indo Daily: Jo Jo Dullard suspect arrest – What we know so far
Two private residences connected to the murder suspect were also searched by gardaí. His arrest followed a major media appeal over the weekend which contained detailed information about the significant investigation under way.
Sources said this was a strategy deployed by gardaí in an effort to “spook” the suspect before his arrest.
Ms Dullard’s family had also previously raised concerns about the initial garda response to her disappearance, saying that the case wasn’t treated seriously until 72 hours after she was reported missing.
Detectives from Kildare and the serious crime review team are now leading the murder inquiry and the cold-case unit has made almost 800 recommendations for the investigation team to pursue.
A Garda search team an area around Grangecon in Co Wicklow. Photo: Collins
This includes re-evaluating statements already made by persons of interest and witnesses, as well as reviewing all information received through the Garda’s intelligence section and locally as part of the significant inquiry.
Following the review of the original investigation, and new lines of inquiry generated, a decision was made to arrest the chief suspect and search lands connected to him.
In a media briefing Superintendent Paul Burke said: “An Garda Síochána have been and continue to keep the family of Jo Jo Dullard fully updated in relation to this investigation.”
She was predeceased by her parents, John and Nora, and the youngest of five siblings – Nora, Kathleen and her brother Thomas, while her sister Mary died in 2018 after a lengthy campaign to get justice for her sibling.
Ms Dullard was last seen on November 9, 1995, after socialising in Bruxelles Bar in Dublin city centre. She missed her last bus home to Kilkenny and instead boarded a bus to Naas, intending to hitch hike the rest of the way back to her home in Callan.
She then hitched a lift from Naas to the slip road on the M9 at Kilcullen, and at around 11.15pm hitched another lift to Moone. She called her friend, Mary Cullinan, from a telephone box in Moone at 11.37pm. The person who pulled over to give her a lift during that phone call has never come forward.