GARDAI QUESTION RESIDENTS IN FIONA MURDER INQUIRY
Wexford gardai have been carrying out doorto-door enquiries in south Wexford in a new probe into the murder of tragic Bridgetown mother Fiona Sinnott.
Householders living along two possible routes that 19 year old Fiona could have travelled to reach her rented home in Ballyhit, Broadway on the night she left Butler’s pub in Broadway shortly after midnight on February 8 1998, are being interviewed again 19 years after the initial investigation.
Gardai have also been contacting people who previously lived in the area and have since moved to other locations.
The enquiries began as gardai appealed to anyone with information on Fiona’s disappearance to come forward at the same time that a reconstruction of her last movements was broadcast by the CrimeCall programme on RTE television.
The gardai especially want to hear from or about four individuals who were seen by a passing motorist at Kisha Cross between midnight and 12.30 am that night.A male and a female were involved in an argument and two males in their late teens or early twenties were seen a short distance away - none of them have ever come forward and gardai are anxious to trace them.
A team of detectives and uniformed gardai have been assigned to a renewed inquiry which has seen forensic officers re-examining the cottage in which Fiona lived with her then 11-month old daughter Emma. The case was upgraded from a missing person to a murder case in 2005.Samples have been taken from the house and laboratory results are being awaited. Chief Superintendent John Roche of Wexford Garda Station which is co-ordinating the investigation said thanks to technological advances, new tests can yield results many years later even if a suspect area or item has been cleaned.
DNA profiles can be generated from stains which was not possible in 1998 when Fiona went missing. ‘Our technical team carried out a new examination of the house about three weeks ago and we are still awaiting the results,’ said the Garda boss.
The Chief Superintendent said since the fresh investigation began, officers have gathered small pieces of new information which could assist the gardai in their enquiries and since the appeal, a number of telephone calls have been received from members of the public offering information.‘If there are people out there who have any information, however insignificant they feel it might be, please contact us. We will deal with it in the strictest confidence. If they don’t want to contact Wexford Garda Station, they can ring the confidential telephone line on 1800 666 111,’ he said.