Appeal for mother of Kerry's 'Baby John' to come forward

The cold case review into the murder of Baby John, whose body was found in 1984 near Cahersiveen with 28 stab wounds, was established three years ago

The grave of Baby John in the Holy Cross, Cemetery, Cahersiveen, Co. Kerry, whose murder 37 years ago remains to be solved. Picture Dan Linehan

The Garda superintendent in charge of the review into the unsolved murder of the Kerry Baby 37 years ago has appealed directly to the baby's mother to come forward.

The body of the newborn baby - known as Baby John - was found at White Strand beach in Cahersiveen on 14 April 1984. He has suffered 28 stab wounds.

The decision to exhume Baby' John's remains from Holy Cross Cemetery yesterday was both "essential and important", Supt Flor Murphy said on Radio Kerry on Wednesday morning.

Gardaí still believe the answer to the unsolved murder lies in south Kerry and local people have information that they have not provided, the Garda boss said, and should come forward. 

The Killarney Superintendent said he was appealing directly to Baby John's mother, who had grieved and suffered over the last 37 years, to come forward and qualified professional personnel would be made available to her. He said he believes the baby's mother is key to the investigation.

Asked why the inquiry was still being pursued, the Superintendent said Baby John "deserves justice". An Garda Síochána had an obligation to investigate the murder regardless of the length of time, he said.

Supt Murphy said the exhumation carried out yesterday was “in conjunction” with other work being done in the investigation and was necessary.

“This wouldn’t have been done unless absolutely necessary,” Supt Murphy said, and it was conducted with "sensitivity, dignity and respect", he added.

We want to bring closure and deliver justice to Baby John.  We want to deliver justice for a five-day-old baby whose very, very brief life was cut short.

An Garda Siochána applied for an licence to exhume the remains of Baby John at Holy Cross Cemetery, Cahersiveen, two weeks ago. The application to exhume the body of the baby was made to Kerry County Council on September 1, and it was granted, it has been confirmed.

The exhumation took place at around 10am yesterday and the remains were brought to Kerry University Hospital. Following examination there, the remains were re-interred just before 4pm. Why it was necessary to exhume the body has not been made clear.

In January 2018, when opening the review into the death gardaí explained how a viable DNA profile had been obtained from the body and it was this which enabled new avenues of investigation, along with allowing gardaí to conclusively state that Joanne Hayes from Abbeydorney, the woman wrongly accused of the baby’s murder in 1984, was not the mother.

“Principally, a viable DNA profile has been obtained from samples taken from Baby John in the course of the original investigation. This sample has been examined and compared and as a result of this analysis, we can conclusively state that Ms Joanne Hayes is not the mother of Baby John,” Supt Flor Murphy said at the press conference in January 2018.

Tribunal and review

The original investigation into the death of Baby John, and the subsequent discovery of the body of a second baby on a farm near Abbeydorney outside Tralee in Co Kerry, led to a Tribunal of Inquiry in 1985 into the Garda handling of the case.

The Tribunal was established after Ms Hayes, who had given birth to a different baby, was questioned by gardaí about the baby found at Cahersiveen.

The Tribunal found Ms Hayes was not the mother of the Cahersiveen baby, as she had always maintained.

The cold case review into the murder of Baby John was established three years ago in Cahersiveen Garda Station and involves local personnel as well as investigating officers from the Garda Serious Crime Review Team, based in Dublin.

When the review was announced, gardaí said a viable DNA profile existed and advances in DNA technology had allowed them to open new avenues of investigation into the death.

DNA samples have been provided by local people and door-to-door inquiries have taken place. The Cahersiveen inquiry had been disrupted by the pandemic, but progess was being made all the time, the garda said.