Senior garda who died by suicide left note for colleague admitting 'major error' in murder probe

Colleagues of Detective Superintendent Colm Fox gave evidence to the second day of the inquest into is death on February 10, 2018

Detective Superintendent Colm Fox died during a trial in relation to a high-profile murder at the Regency Hotel in Whitehall, Dublin, on February 5, 2016. Pictures: Collins

A garda superintendent has said he still does understand the contents of a suicide note left to him by a colleague in which he admitted making “a major error” over a high-profile murder investigation and related criminal trial.

Superintendent Brian Daly told an inquest into the death of Detective Superintendent Colm Fox — who was overseeing the investigation into a major gangland murder at the Regency Hotel in Whitehall, Dublin, in February 2016 — the contents of the note remained “cryptic”. 

“I still have not got a clue what it is about,” Supt Daly said.

Det Supt Fox, 56, was found dead in his office at Ballymun Garda Station on the evening of February 10, 2018.

The deceased was in charge of the Garda investigation into the murder of David Byrne at the Regency Hotel on February 5, 2016, and its related trial, which was taking place at the time of his death.

Patrick Hutch was charged with the murder of Mr Byrne — a senior member of the Kinahan crime cartel — in a daring attack during a boxing weigh-in at the hotel by members of the rival Hutch gang in an incident which sparked a major gangland feud between the two criminal organisations.

The trial at the Special Criminal Court subsequently collapsed due to the death of Det Supt Fox.

Superintendent Brian Daly said he was in deep shock as he read the contents of the note, which had been left in a sealed envelope addressed to him marked 'urgent' on a desk in the deceased’s office.

In the letter, whose contents were heard for the first time by Det Supt Fox’s family, the deceased said Supt Daly would be reading it because of a “drastic act” by him.

Det Supt Fox said there had been an “act of omission” on his part in February 2016 by not following up on the recognition of Mr Hutch as a suspect.

He said he intended to assign tasks about that aspect of the case but completely forgot about it.

Det Supt Fox continued: “I have made a major error for which I will not blame anyone else. I have been under serious stress for the past week which has led to today’s event for which I am truly sorry.” 

He explained the mistake only became apparent during the trial as a result of “an innocent comment which got me thinking”. 

Dept Supt Fox added: “My mistake may not be seen by some as a mistake and I could not live with that.” “I cannot change things now and as the SIO [senior investigating officer], I take full responsibility,” he wrote.

Det Supt Fox observed it might affect the outcome of the trial and for that he apologised particularly to the Byrne family.

However, he said there was no other aspect of the investigation to be concerned about or any other case in which he was involved.

In evidence, Supt Daly described how “nothing prepared me for the sight I witnessed” when he was alerted to his colleague’s death.

Supt Daly said he was in deep shock as he read the contents of the note, which had been left in a sealed envelope addressed to him marked “urgent” on a desk in the deceased’s office.

He told the coroner, Myra Cullinane, he had reread the letter in May 2018 and still could not understand its content.

Supt Daly described having an hour-long conversation with Det Supt Fox on the day before his death, in which the deceased revealed he felt under great pressure but asked the witness not to tell anyone else about it.

However, Supt Daly, who had offered to help Det Supt Fox with his workload, said his colleague did not elaborate about what he meant, and never spoke about any aspect of the Regency investigation.

The witness said the deceased started speaking about his childhood including being a boy scout as well as his early years as a garda and his family.

He described Det Supt Fox as “a perfectionist and excellent colleague”, as well as a workaholic.

“Failure was not part of his vocabulary,” he added.

In reply to questions from the coroner, Supt Daly said he believed Det Supt Fox felt he was a failure.

“He was a perfectionist in everything he did. He was a great ambassador for the guards,” he said.

Det Supt Daly said his colleague did “everything by the book”. 

The second day of the inquest at Dublin District Coroner’s Court also heard evidence Det Supt Fox was in charge of 18 different investigations at the time of his death.

Several members of the deceased’s family had previously told the coroner that Det Supt Fox was under intense pressure at work in February 2018.

Detective Garda Paul Darley said he formed the impression Det Supt Fox appeared 'fed up'.

Detective Garda Paul Darley told the hearing on Tuesday that Det Supt Fox was speaking to him in the station’s canteen at lunchtime on the day of his death about how SIOs in the London Metropolitan Police would only ever have to oversee four investigations in a 12-month period, but noted he was in charge of 18 cases at the time.

The inquest heard the cases included a double murder in Ballymun and an attempted murder of a garda, as well as several shootings.

Det Garda Darley said he formed the impression Det Supt Fox appeared “fed up”. 

He noted there was no detective inspector in their Garda division at the time, following the retirement of an officer in May 2017, and there was “no support system in place”. 

Commenting on Det Supt Fox, Det Garda Darley said he could see “the colour was gone from his face” in the weeks before the Regency trial.

As the weeks progressed, he said Det Supt Fox’s appearance became “more dishevelled”. 

The witness also said: “The whole environment we were working in was quite stressful.” 

He also outlined how the deceased had remarked to him in 2017: “I thought I had made a mistake but I think I got it sorted.” Det Garda Darley said he did not know what the comment was about and described Det Supt Fox as “a very confident and, if anything, overly dedicated” officer.

“He was the first man in and the last man home,” he said.

On the day of his death, Det Garda Darley said Det Supt Fox appeared “in jovial form” and informed him he had come in early that morning because he wanted to go to a firing range.

Later that afternoon, Det Garda Darley said he noted the desk in Det Supt Fox’s office was tidy, which was unusual as it was normally strewn with papers and files.

In hindsight, the witness said it “should have been a red flag”. 

Another colleague, Garda Keith Taylor, said Det Supt Fox had told him he was not really looking forward to the resumption of the Regency trial the following week when they spoke in the canteen on the day of his death.

He recalled the deceased had made a remark about trying to do the right thing but “mistakes were made”. 

Garda Taylor said Det Supt Fox has also spoken about the difficulty of getting convictions in court cases in Ireland and how defence legal teams would focus on collusion and collaboration.

However, he said Dept Supt Fox did not speak in a “despondent” way and “everything seemed normal”. 

Garda Taylor, who had an office on the floor above Det Supt Fox, also described hearing “an unmerciful noise” sometime between 4pm and 5.20pm from the pipes in a radiator, which sounded like “metal on metal” being hit with extreme force.

Several other gardaí also gave evidence about their interaction with Det Supt Fox on the day of his death, as well as the discovery of his body in the ensuite toilet of his office at around 8.45pm.

A Smith & Wesson firearm that was signed out by Det Supt Fox earlier that day was found next to his body, and he was formally pronounced dead by a doctor called to the scene at 10.15pm.

Garda Stephen Enright, who discovered the victim, said a call had been made to the station’s public office by Det Supt Fox’s wife at 8.40pm, as she could not contact him directly.

He told the inquest he and another colleague had agreed it was a strange call to receive.

Garda Enright said the lights in Det Supt Fox’s office automatically came on as he entered the room and he noted the desk was tidy before deciding to look in the bathroom.

He recalled blessing himself and saying a prayer after checking Det Supt Fox’s body and finding no pulse before alerting other gardaí to the incident.

The inquest was adjourned and will resume on Wednesday morning.