Stolen Sister: 05 - The Trials

Where is Jón?

RTÉ

Society & Culture, True Crime, Documentary

4.5 • 717 Ratings

🗓️ 27 June 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

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Summary

With the heartbreaking recovery of both Elizabeth and Mary’s remains, the investigation’s focus sharpens. The men, isolated in solitary confinement for months, are finally brought before the courts. But things take a strange twist when Shaw and Evans, once united in their actions, now turn on each other—each blaming the other for the murders. This results in a judge deciding there’ll be four separate trials, ensuring each man faces justice for his actions individually. Shaw is the first to stand trial, accused of the murder of Mary Duffy. As the courtroom waits with bated breath, one question hangs in the air: will justice begin to be served?

If you have any information or knowledge about the actions of John Shaw and Geoffrey Evans please email us [email protected]

Credits: Stolen Sister is written and produced by Nicoline Greer with production assistance from Shauna McGreevy. Roz Purcell is the host. Original music soundtrack performed and composed by Oscar-winning composer Stephen Warbeck, together with the RTÉ Concert Orchestra. Sound design and orchestra recording by Ciarán Dunne. The executive producer is Liam O’Brien. Audio Product Support by Nigel Wheatley. Marketing by Maria Buckley and Christopher Hayes. Design and creatives by Darragh Treacy. Publicity by Sarah Neville. Sales by Graeme Bailey and additional online editorial content by Anna Joyce. Publishing weekly.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	When Elizabeth's sisters, Bernie and Kathleen, think of Elizabeth, one of the things they remember is how she took pride in her teeth and never missed a dentist appointment.
0:12.0	Elizabeth was absolutely beautiful girl, fit and healthy and strong, beautiful teeth.
0:19.0	The dentist that she had in Sandy Mount,
0:21.1	that's the way of identifying Elizabeth's body,
0:23.5	was through the dentist,
0:24.9	done Elizabeth's dental records.
0:27.1	When the dentist compared the dental records,
0:29.8	there was no doubt.
0:31.2	The chartings are of one and the same dentition.
0:34.3	This is conclusive evidence
0:36.2	that the remains are those of Miss Elizabeth Plunkett.
0:40.6	Sean Evans had rode out to sea to dispose of Elizabeth's body, hoping she would disappear, but she didn't.
0:48.7	The sea delivered our back, but the wind and the tide and the sand took every bit of evidence.
0:56.4	State pathologist John Harbison did the post-mortem examination on Elizabeth's remains.
1:02.0	We've managed to get access to that report.
1:05.2	The degree of decomposition and erosion of the body were consistent with the immersion in the open sea for about a month.
1:14.2	Over the last 12 months, we've shared the many documents and statements. We've gathered around
1:20.3	Elizabeth's case with their family. Included in those documents is Elizabeth's post-mortem record,
1:27.1	which her sisters's burning Kathleen
1:28.7	have never seen before. We had it for about three weeks before we had the strength to look
1:35.2	at it. We said to each other, look, what we have here is like a medical report that Elizabeth's
1:42.3	beautiful soul, that was gone on the 28.
	...

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