'Ruth of all evil': double murderer Lawrence gets two life terms

A jury at the Central Criminal Court has convicted Ruth Lawrence of the murders of Anthony Keegan and Eoin O'Connor, whose bodies were discovered bound on Inchicup Island in Lough Sheelin in May 2014, following an investigation spanning a decade. Justice Tony Hunt imposed two concurrent life sentences on Monday, with both terms backdated to October 2022. The prosecution established that the murders occurred between late April and late May 2014, with Lawrence acting in concert with her South African boyfriend, Neville van der Westhuizen. Evidence presented during the trial indicated that Lawrence shot O'Connor, a drug dealer, at their home after luring him there under false pretences, with her boyfriend subsequently delivering a fatal follow-up shot. The jury accepted that Lawrence bore equal culpability for Keegan's death, which prosecutors argued occurred as a consequence of the first killing because the two men were associates. Lawrence, originally from Dublin with a County Meath address, absconded to South Africa immediately following the murders. She remained at large for nearly a decade before being extradited to Ireland in May 2023. During sentencing proceedings, members of both victims' families delivered impact statements detailing the prolonged trauma caused by the killings and the extended uncertainty surrounding the men's fates. The court heard references to Lawrence's apparent absence of remorse throughout the investigation and prosecution. The case attracted significant attention due to the nature of the crimes, the remote location where the bodies were concealed, and the international dimension of Lawrence's flight and eventual return to face justice in the jurisdiction where the offences occurred.