He’s the monster that has long stalked the nation’s nightmares and whose name was this week linked to a search of land in Co Wicklow for missing women Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob, both of whom are presumed dead.
And now the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal two shocking unknown facts about the convicted rapist Larry Murphy, that Gardai believe may hold the clue to discovering the sinister truth behind one or both women’s disappearance.
Convicted rapist Larry Murphy was living in a rented house just six minutes’ drive from where missing woman Josephine ‘Jo Jo’ Dullard was last seen, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Larry Murphy who pleaded guilty to the kidnap, rape, robbery and attempted murder of a woman in 2000 at a location in Co Wicklow
And, in another development, a link has emerged between Murphy and a separate violent attack on a young woman outside a Dublin nightclub in the early 1990s.
The revelations come as gardaí continue excavation works at a disused quarry in Co. Wicklow, less than five kilometres from where Murphy raped and attempted
to kill a woman. The search, which enters its seventh day today, is centred on land at Castleruddery Upper, 5km from Spinan’s Cross, where Murphy carried out the savage attack in 2000.
The MoS has also learned this land was previously searched to a lesser degree by gardaí investigating the disappearance and murder of Deirdre Jacob 27 years ago.
Murphy – who was released from prison in 2010 after serving ten–and–a–half years of a 15–year jail term for rape and attempted murder – is the chief suspect in the Deirdre Jacob murder investigation.
He has also been questioned about the disappearance of several other women, including Jo Jo Dullard, who was last seen outside Moone in Co. Kildare on November 9, 1995.
Undated Garda handout photo of Jo Jo Dullard. A search is continuing at the Wicklow border as part of a significant development in the investigation into the disappearance of Dullard almost 30 years ago.
Missing Irish girl Deirdre Jacob,18,student teacher, last seen on the 26th July 1998
So far, there has been no evidence directly linking Murphy to Ms Dullard’s disappearance or murder.
In 2024, gardaí arrested another man in connection with the ongoing murder investigation as a search was carried out on land in the Grangecon area of Co. Wicklow, but he was later released without charge.
The MoS has now learned Murphy and his former wife were renting a house just a few minutes’ drive from where Ms Dullard was last seen after hitching a lift to the village following a night out in Dublin when she missed the last direct bus to her home in Callan, Co. Kilkenny.
An informed source said Murphy was renting the house from a now–deceased garda for a short time in the mid–1990s while he was building his family home.
Ms Dullard called a friend from a phone box but hung up when a driver stopped to give her a lift. Twenty minutes after the call, there were further sightings of a woman matching Ms Dullard’s description in nearby Castledermot.
The rented house Murphy was living is a six–minute drive from the phone box where the 21–year–old was last seen, and a similar distance from Castledermot.
The source said: ‘Murphy was in the rented house when Jo Jo went missing. He was renting this house while he was building the new house for him and his wife to live.
‘They were living in their new house three years later when Deirdre Jacob vanished.’
A separate source familiar with the cold case investigation said the convicted rapist’s location in the same area at the same time Ms Dullard vanished is of ‘significant interest’.
They told the MoS: ‘The linkage between the two cases is down to proximity and geography.
‘The current search site was searched years ago after Deirdre Jacob went missing and the gardaí at the time were looking specifically for a Fiat Uno or Bambino in that quarry.’
The former national co–ordinator of Operation Trace – the Garda investigation into whether a single serial killer is behind the disappearances of several women, including Ms Dullard, Ms Jacob, and Annie McCarrick, in the region known as the ‘Vanishing Triangle’ in Leinster – this weekend confirmed he was aware Murphy had been living at the rented house near Moone.
Retired detective Alan Bailey said he recalled Murphy ‘was a while building [his home]’ and that ‘we searched another house’ in the Moone area.
However, the information putting Murphy near the location of Ms Dullard’s last sighting has not been publicly disclosed until now.
A graphic depicting the various locations relating to the disappearances of the two girls and Murphy’s movements, all within a sinisterly short distance from the location of his 2000 rape
Gardaí leading the cold case investigations into the murders of Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob are hopeful the ongoing dig at the disused quarry will finally uncover their remains, or evidence linked to the missing young women.
In a press statement issued his week, gardaí confirmed they are searching for the remains of both women at the Co. Wicklow site. It is understood the two cases were connected based on the ‘geographical location of the search’.
Deirdre Jacob was just 18 when she disappeared shortly after 3pm on July 28, 1998, near her family home in Roseberry, Newbridge, Co. Kildare.
A file sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in 2021 listed Murphy as the chief suspect, but no charges were directed.
Gardaí suspect Murphy killed the missing student teacher before dumping her remains.
They are particularly interested in a Fiat car they suspect may have been secretly buried on the land they are now searching.
Meanwhile, sources familiar with the ongoing cold case investigations believe Murphy could also be linked to a violent attack on a woman outside Rumours nightclub on Dublin’s O’Connell Street in the early 1990s.
Gardaí investigating the incident believe the attacker drove a white Fiat 127. At the time, all the owners of vehicles matching this description were ‘screened’ nationwide.
It subsequently emerged Larry Murphy’s father owned a white Fiat 127, but he was ruled out of the investigation based on his age profile.
However, sources this weekend said investigating gardaí at the time ‘never thought to ask if his sons had access’ to the car.
One source told the MoS: ‘His [Murphy’s] father had a white Fiat 127. There was a girl very badly assaulted leaving Rumours nightclub on O’Connell Street years before Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob vanished.
‘Murphy was a young man at the time, in his early or mid–twenties.
‘The attacker drove a car matching Murphy’s father’s car exactly.
‘The attack was so bad gardaí screened every white Fiat 127 owner in the country, but Murphy’s father [was] ruled out due to age profile. They never thought to ask if his sons had access to it.’
On February 11, 2000, Murphy forced a young woman into the boot of his car in Carlow town.
He then took the terrified woman to Kilkea in rural Co. Kildare where he repeatedly raped her. Murphy then drove her to a remote area called Spinan’s Cross near his home in Baltinglass, where she was beaten and raped.
Murphy put plastic bag over her head and was suffocating her when hunters arrived, spooking her attacker and saving her life. He was said to be just seconds away from murdering her.
Shortly afterwards, Murphy drove to his local pub and had a drink before going home to his wife and two young children.
When the carpenter was arrested by gardaí the following morning, he admitted to the horrific attack.
However, Murphy showed no remorse for his crime and took no part in rehabilitation programmes during his 10 years in prison.
Convicted rapist Larry Murphy leaving Arbour Hill Prison in August 2010
Following his release from Arbour Hill Prison in August 2010, Murphy – who was under intense media and public scrutiny – fled the country to the south of France and then on to Amsterdam.
He subsequently left for Spain before settling in London, where sources this weekend said he has remained and continues to work as a carpenter.
The now 60–year–old has had relationships with different women in recent years, using false names such as Laurence and Charley. Two years ago, Murphy changed his name by deed poll to Charley Doyle.
London’s Metropolitan Police were made aware of his move to the UK capital after the Garda Sex Offenders Management and Intelligence Unit received word he was on the move from Amsterdam.
Detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation informed police of his move to London after reporters tracked him down to Amsterdam.
Murphy lives under strict monitoring conditions, has to attend meetings with officers and is subjected to risk assessment guidelines. He also has to notify police if he changes address.
Sources said Murphy has complied with the UK authorities, where there are tougher laws relating to convicted sex offenders.
If Murphy returns to Ireland, he must provide an address to the Garda Sex Offender Management and Intelligence Unit within a week as required under the Sex Offenders Act.
Murphy was convicted a year before the Act came into effect; but a source noted the legislation includes ‘everyone that was still in jail in 2001 for a sexual offence. It therefore captured him under its umbrella.’
The source added: ‘Under this [legislation], he [Murphy] has obligations to notify gardaí when moving address or if he intends to leave the jurisdiction. Gardaí will always keep very close tabs on his whereabouts.’
