Woman killed in Galway fire named as former death row inmate Sunny Jacobs

Sunny Jacobs (pictured) was wrongfully convicted of the murder of a US policeman and a Canadian constable. File picture: Andrew Downes

A 76-year-old woman who died in a house fire in Galway has been named as Sonia “Sunny” Jacobs who served 17 years in prison, including time on death row, after she was wrongfully convicted of the murder of a US policeman and a Canadian constable.

Jacobs perished after a blaze broke out at her bungalow near Casla in Co Galway on Tuesday. A man in his 30s, who is understood to have been her carer, also died in the incident at Gleann Mhic Mhuireann.