'Evil, sadistic man' gets life for tourist's murder

THE German tourist who was murdered, sexually assaulted and decapitated was a random victim, chosen purely because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Journalist Bettina Poeschel had gone to Newgrange to see one of Ireland's renowned landmarks, but bad luck placed her alone on a road and in sight of Michael Murphy, an evil, sadistic and unrepentant convicted killer, who was given a mandatory life sentence for her murder yesterday.

Murphy, 42, had a string of previous convictions, including manslaughter. He was tried for the murder of 64-year-old Catherine (Kitty) Carroll in 1984 and served eight years of a 12-year-sentence. When he saw the 28-year-old German tourist walking on her own, he only had one thing in mind.