Murder of Cork woman Olivia Dunlea  to feature on true crime TV documentary

The final episode of an Irish true crime documentary series, airing next week, will feature the murder of Cork woman, Olivia Dunlea.

The series, entitled Marú Inár Measc, is a three-part documentary by Midas Productions for TG4, which shines a light on the impact that fatal crimes have on society, local communities and on the victim’s families.

Midas Productions and TG4 have also produced a podcast of the same name, which runs alongside the TV edition and explores the societal impact of each case.

Episode three of the television series will look at the murder of Ms Dunlea, a 36-year-old mother of three, who was murdered in Passage West on February 17, 2013, by her boyfriend of just eight weeks, Darren Murphy.

Playschool teacher

Ms Dunlea was a playschool teacher and local volunteer, who originally hailed from Ballintemple.

She was the eldest of three daughters and had a very close relationship with her sisters, so much so that her sister Anne had moved to the same estate in Passage West prior to her death.

The day before her death, Ms Dunlea collected Anne from the hospital, who had just given birth to a new baby, and brought her home.

She was due to go out that evening with Mr Murphy to the Rochestown Inn, telling Anne that she would be back the following morning to help with her newborn.

That night, Mr Murphy and Ms Dunlea spent the evening as arranged at the Rochestown Inn, before taking a taxi back to her house at around 1am. 

Fire

Not long after this, neighbours reported a fire at Ms Dunlea’s address, which was later found to have been set by Mr Murphy, who had lit two separate fires within her home, both in her bedroom and kitchen.

Inside the home, Ms Dunlea was found dead in her bed, having been stabbed by Mr Murphy six times.

Throughout their short relationship, Mr Murphy had displayed obsessive traits, and was at times reported to have been seen sitting in his car outside her house in the middle of the night.

This documentary explores the dangers of stalking and the rising numbers of femicide cases in Ireland, and how murder cases like this are dealt with in the judicial system.

Although Mr Murphy presented a different version of events to investigating gardaí, CCTV footage soon showed his story had holes, leading to his subsequent arrest.

Justice

Despite this, the case was not clear-cut, with Ms Dunlea’s family waiting seven years to get justice for her murder.

Murphy’s defence team leaned on the defence of provocation to seek the lesser sentencing of manslaughter, claiming Ms Dunlea had provoked him into killing her.

Following three trials and two appeal hearings, Mr Murphy was sentenced to life imprisonment for the second time in this case.

Now, 12 years later, Mr Murphy is entitled to apply for parole.

The episode, airing on TG4 on March 5 from 9.30pm, will feature interviews with Ms Dunlea’s family, including her daughter, Megan, who will be speaking about her mother’s death for the first time.