Fred Flannery: Accused of three murders, he hanged himself yesterday.

THE man dubbed The House of Horrors killer took his own life yesterday without ever being convicted of the gruesome murders of three men.

Freddie Flannery’s trial in the Central Criminal Court in June 1996 collapsed after a judge ruled late disclosure of documents by gardaí was detrimental to him getting a fair hearing.

He had stood charged with the murder of Patrick ‘Patch’ O’Driscoll, 32, parts of whose body were found buried in woodlands on the outskirts of Cork city. He had been cut up and burned.

Gardaí believed that Flannery had also murdered two other men, Cathal O’Brien, 23, and Kevin Ball, 42, in a flat they shared with Mr O’Driscoll at 9, Wellington Terrace in Cork city centre. It is also believed they were cut up, burned and buried. However, their remains have never been found.

Flannery, 42, hanged himself yesterday in a shed adjacent to a house he shared with his partner and her children near Carrigaline, Co Cork.

Gardaí said Flannery’s partner had found him in the shed shortly before 2pm and she had cut him down. His body was taken to Cork University Hospital where a post mortem was carried out by pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster. “We have no reason to believe foul play is involved,” a garda spokesman said.

Patrick O’Driscoll’s sister Jean Bailey described Freddie Flannery as an evil monster. “I can’t wait to dance on his grave with a bottle of champagne. I will be doing it to the murdering scum,” Ms Bailey, a mother of three, said.

Cathal O’Brien and Kevin Ball were murdered in the flat in April 1994. Ms Bailey said her brother had witnessed the killings and had tried to inform the gardaí, but was too scared to sign a formal statement. Patrick O’Driscoll disappeared on January 2, 1995. Bits of his hair, some slivers of bone and fingernails were found later in woodlands at Lotamore, Mayfield, Cork.

Seamus O’Brien, whose son Cathal was murdered by Flannery, last night prayed Flannery’s friends and relatives would come forward with any information they might have about where Cathal is buried.

“While Fred Flannery was alive, we still had some slim opportunity to get a resolution to this. More people than him were involved in our son’s death. But maybe now that he is gone, others won’t be so afraid.

“We hope in some way that his death might bring others to the realisation that they have to reveal what happened, Maybe his death now takes the fear out of it for others,” the 59-year-old school principal said.

Garda sources said that while they believe Flannery, originally from Mayfield, killed all three men, others may have helped him to dispose of their bodies.

“Our investigations into the death of Cathal O’Brien and Kevin Ball are still ongoing as their bodies have never been accounted for. We also believe there may have been other people involved,” a senior garda source said.