24th anniversary of the murder of Eddie Fitzmaurice
By Tom Gillespie
TODAY (Friday) marks the 24th anniversary of the discovery of the body of Charlestown businessman Edward (Eddie) Fitzmaurice at his home in Bellaghy, on the outskirts of the town.
The 83-year-old had been assaulted, tied up, gagged and left to die over a period of five days.
At 6.45 p.m. on May 6, 1998, his body was found in a bedroom of his home. It has been established that sometime between 8.20 p.m. on Friday, May 1, and Saturday morning, May 2, 1998, Eddie was attacked by intruders in his home.
Despite an intensive garda investigation over the years all efforts to identify the culprits has thrown up a blank, and nobody has been charged to date with this crime.
The murder investigation has remained ongoing. During this period of time it has been reviewed on an ongoing basis.
It is the belief of the investigation teams that there are still persons who have information pertaining to this brutal and callous attack on a defenceless elderly man.
Crimestoppers have offered a reward for information leading to the identification and prosecution of the perpetrators. This was a particularly callous and brutal attack on a defenceless, elderly man.
Throughout the protracted investigation, over a thousand lines of enquiry have been opened, over 800 statements have been taken and a large number of exhibits have been gathered.
There were tearful scenes at the funeral of Mr. Fitzmaurice, who ran a drapery business in Charlestown for 54 years. Hundreds of people filed past the open coffin in Donoghue’s Funeral Home. They comforted his four children, Ollie (Limerick), Valerie, Billy and Colette (England).
The remains were taken the 100 yards to St. James Church where they were received by Canon Liam Cawley.
The following morning the then Bishop of Achonry, Thomas Flynn, sympathised with members of the Fitzmaurice family.
He told them: "The past week has been a dark and sad one for yourselves and, indeed, for all the people of the parish. Death is always a sad occasion but it is part of our human condition.
"Murder, however, is not normal, it reaches to the very depths of human wickedness and cannot be excused.
"There can be no excuse or justification for the murder of an innocent human being and anyone who does such a thing is sick and society must be protected from such a person."
Bishop Flynn said Eddie Fitzmaurice was a quiet, harmless man, an innocent man, and yet ‘he was tied up and left to die in agony in his own house’.
He continued: "Eddie came to Charlestown about 50 years ago and over those years he worked hard to earn a living for himself, his now deceased wife, Rita, and his four children.
"He was a good man, faithful to his family and loyal to God. He attended Mass every Sunday here in this church. His offertory envelope bears silent witness to his fidelity to Sunday Mass.
"There is a time in life, and this is one of them, which makes us cry out ‘why’?
"Why did Eddie have to die in this way? Right across the centuries believers have cried out to God ‘why have you done this to us’? We should never be afraid to express our feelings to God."
He went on to say: "Human life is precious and there are millions of great people in the world who treasure it. We cannon afford to undervalue any human life. There is a sickness in those who cannot see it in the image of God - something beautiful and sublime.
"And it is a sickness which destroys not only the life of the victim but also that sense of trust on which society is built.
"In the past we had taken so much for granted - most houses in the country were never locked and we felt safe. Do we have to turn our houses into fortresses to enjoy our basic right to stay alive?
"We need to protect ourselves against those who destroy life and against those who try to justify the destruction of any human life.
"If we were ever to justify the killing of one innocent life, be it young or old, we would open the barricades and demand our God given gift of life."
Bishop Flynn declared: "A violent attack on one person is an attack on us all. While murder lurks in our society no life is safe. And from this unspeakable tragedy we can learn our need for one another and learn our need for a caring community which for so long we have taken for granted.
"We can also learn from our God. A God who suffered and died himself to experience suffering from the inside. He understands. He knows. He cares. He is the God who is portrayed in the image of the father of the prodigal son, standing on the brow of the hill ….. looking into the distance waiting for each of us to turn towards him and as soon as we do he rolls out a red carpet for us to welcome our homecoming.
"Today we pray that he is still welcoming Eddie Fitzmaurice into his eternal home."
Surely the emotional words of Bishop Flynn must pluck at the heartstrings of those close to or responsible for the murder.
On the evening of the discovery of Mr. Fitzmaurice’s body I was the first journalist to be tipped off about the awful find and for the following weeks the murder made daily national and international headlines.
Anyone with information is asked to contact any garda station, or the Garda Confidential Freephone – 1800666111, or Crimestoppers Line – 1800250025.