'He killed her before she had the chance to leave': Denise Morgan's family speak on her murder
Denise Morgan (pictured) from Tullyallen, Co. Louth, was shot and killed by Joe Taveras last month in New York. He then turned the gun on himself.
The heartbroken mother of an Irish woman shot dead in New York has said her daughter was about to leave the abusive relationship but that her ex-boyfriend murdered her before she had the chance to go.
Denise Morgan, 39, suffered a gunshot wound to the head and neck during a row with her ex-partner in the early hours of Saturday, October 21 at her apartment in Queens.
The mother of one had just arrived home from work when her ex-boyfriend Joed Abel Taveras, 33, a former US solider, began arguing with her before shooting her and ending his own life.
Denise, from Tullyallen, Co. Louth, had recently ended her relationship with Tavaras and secured a lease on a new apartment which she was due to move into on November 1.
Her family said she had only just begun to confide in them about how Joed was checking her phone, monitoring her movements, and isolating her from her friends.
She had also told her mother Deirdre that on one occasion he held a butter knife to her throat and more recently, in October, tried to strangle her while she was sleeping.
Speaking to the Deirdre Morgan said her daughter was trapped in an abusive relationship but had gained the confidence to leave.
“It was very difficult because she was in New York and we were here, she had a life there with her daughter Mollie,” she said.
“We knew she was struggling; we are a very close family, but she hid a lot of it for a long time. Most of us, including me, only found out recently how jealous he was.
“She was keeping it from me, she told me last month, that she woke up with him choking her. Denise was leaving him, and she was coming back to herself, she kept saying ‘mam, we are warriors’. Her friend Bridget had given her a lease and was going to help her. But he killed her before she had the chance to go.
“She didn’t just die; she was murdered, and he is a murderer.”
On the day of her death, Denise had been out with her daughter Mollie before dropping her off with her dad. She then finished her shift at Mustang Harry’s in Manhattan and walked home to her house in Glendale close to Kew Gardens and Forest Hill.
Neighbours reported hearing an argument followed by two gunshots. When emergency services arrived at the scene, they discovered the bodies of Denise and Joed — who had turned the gun on himself.
“When we went over to bring Denise home, the neighbours said a shot was fired and they heard Denise shouting ‘no’ and about ten seconds later the second shot was fired,” said Denise’s older sister Lisa.
“I can’t even begin to think about how frightened she was. He shot her in the back of the head, and it went out her neck. She would have seen him taking the gun out. I think about it all the time, she must have been terrified.
“We knew things were not good, but nobody saw this. This is not something you would think of in a million years. There is something really wrong with someone to do that.”
Deirdre Morgan said she knew something was wrong when her phone rang on the morning her daughter died.
“I just felt it” she said. “Denise’s ex-husband Larry rang at around 11am and there was silence. I said, ‘Larry what’s wrong?’ and he could not get the words out.
"Then he said, ‘she’s gone, she’s gone.’ I said, ‘who is gone?’ and he said, ‘murder suicide.’ I just hung up on him. My head was spinning.
“Shannon (my daughter) came downstairs. I was in a daze it did not register and then I rang Larry back and he was so upset. He said again ‘she’s gone.’
“I didn’t know what to do. We sat there for ages on the stairs in shock. I rang Lisa [Denise's sister] and told her to come to the house.
“I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t sleep; it’s still not fully registering with us.”
The Morgan family flew to New York last month to help repatriate Denise’s remains and she was laid to rest in her local cemetery on November 4.
Her family said Denise loved Tullyallen village where she grew up with her parents Deirdre and Noel as well as her siblings, Lisa, Shannon, and John. She was also very close to Lisa’s daughter Kayleigh.
Parish priest Fr Sean Dooley spoke out about domestic violence at her funeral and said it was up to everyone to “call out inappropriate behaviour.”
He then cited the new Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2023, which introduced a range of new criminal offences and tougher sentencing that had come into effect just days before Denise's funeral. He said:
He added “It is somewhat ironic “ that the law came into force here in the same week that Denise was buried.
The latest figures from Safe Ireland show almost one third (30%) of all women across the world have experienced physical and or sexual violence by their intimate partner.
As many has 38% of all murders of women are committed by intimated partners according to the World Health Organisation.
In Ireland, one in three women have experienced psychological violence from a partner at some point in their lives, while one in six have experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner since the age of 15.
One in four Irish women have experienced physical or sexual violence by a partner or non-partner since the age of 15.
“Denise was murdered during domestic violence awareness month in the US,” said Shannon.
“She was such a soft-hearted girl, everybody liked her, she always stood up for the underdog and even when she was leaving Joed, she felt sorry for him.
“She had discovered he was cheating on her, but he was always accusing her of cheating on him, abusers do that, they play mind games. Denise was very loyal and was never unfaithful to anyone.”
Shannon described how she had seen some of the abuse her sister suffered after she was forced to stay with them in New York during the covid lockdown.
“I’m the youngest, so Denise saw me as the baby in the house, we never ever fought” she said.
“I always tried to include Joed because he ws her partner at that time, so I would send him funny messages on Instagram.
“I was asleep one night in their house and he woke me up shouting at me ‘stop sending me messages like that’ and ‘you’re flirting with me.’
“It was horrible, it was not meant to come across like that. But even Denise was becoming jealous, and she was never like that.
“I knew he was messing with her head and god know what he was saying to her.
“When I heard he tried to strangle her in October I sent him two messages saying never to touch her again, but he never answered. We were on WhatsApp every day to Denise, and we all knew she was moving out.
“We told her to go to the police, but she was leaving so we thought it would be ok, and so did she.
“They were in separate rooms, but he was leaving boxes of condoms around the house to try and annoy her, like he was seeing other women, and then he left this big, long manipulating letter.”
The has seen the letter written by Joed to Denise just weeks before he killed her.
The Morgan family has shared its contents because they want to highlight the “language he used to make Denise feel bad because she was moving out”.
He wrote: “I am sorry, I am just asking for a little help. I haven’t felt this way in a long time. I know you don’t care; I am asking you to care. Even if you could just pretend to care. I’m just asking for a decent human reaction and take it easy on me please.”
“It’s a letter of manipulation,” said Shannon. “He was the one cheating on her but was trying to make her feel bad leaving. She had enough and when Denise decided it was over then it was over and Joed knew that, so he didn’t want anyone else to have her.”
Lisa said she was concerned about Denise moving out and would have preferred it if she had just left and not told him.
“You don’t know what to do unless you’re in the situation” she said. “He was trying to cut her off from people. I never met him, but my mother and sister did, and he was very nice to them. But the mask always slips.
“I was afraid of what he would do if he knew she was leaving. But no one expected this. We just hope that people will be careful when they are leaving an abusive relationship because she was living with him for five years. You would never see this coming.
“We know that Denise reached out to Joed’s sister after she learned he was in possession of licensed guns and that he was very controlling of her. It goes through our heads all the time that something could have been done to prevent this.
Denise had moved to New York with her ex-husband Larry Zaitschek 12 years ago, after the couple met in Ireland and married.
They ran a restaurant called Dalys in Donore Co Louth and Denise helped offer food to the homeless on Christmas Day.
“She was a very generous person who would do anything for you,” said Lisa.
“They moved to America and then came home again, and their daughter Mollie was born here”.
“But they went back around seven years ago. Denise and Larry split up and she met Joed around five years ago and they were living together. Joed has a daughter around the same age with his ex-wife and the children were friends.
“Thank god Mollie was not in the apartment when Denise was killed,” said Lisa. “She was with her father and Larry said Denise had dropped her off and she was happy”.
Inside their home in Lavin Park in Tullyallen, the Morgan family have placed a large white framed photo of Denise on her wedding day on the heart of the fireplace.
“She was beautiful,” said Lisa. “She was my younger sister and honestly the nicest person you could meet.
“We really felt for Ashling Murphy’s family in the courts recently, their daughter’s killer was denying things and pretending he had nothing to do with her death.
“I don’t know how the Murphy family faced all of that. I don’t think I could get through hearing those things. Joed was in the army so he could have said he had some sort of mental illness or PTSD, and we wouldn’t be able to listen to that. So, I am glad he is dead if I am honest.
“He murdered Denise and, took a daughter from her mother, a mother from her daughter, her sisters, her brother, her father, her whole family — everybody, he took her from all who loved her.
“He knew exactly what he was doing, he did not want her to get on with her life, so if he couldn’t have her no one could.”
The US army did not respond to queries from the nor did the Taveras family.
Women’s Aid free and confidential domestic abuse support and information:
- Contact the 24hr National Freephone Helpline 1800-341-900, seven days a week.
- Instant Message Support Service is available seven days a week.
- Email: helpline@womensaid.ie
- Post: Women’s Aid, 5 Wilton Place, Dublin 2, D02 RR27
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