We had no inkling of his murderous intent say the killer’s family
Father of two was on a dating site as gardaí investigate whether he sought other victims
THE wife of murderer Mark Hennessy has told gardaí she had no indication her husband was capable of abducting and killing young woman Jastine Valdez, a source has revealed.
And the killer’s parents and siblings were ‘blindsided’ by him before his ‘apparent murderous actions’, the Irish Daily Mail can reveal.
Gardaí have also established that the married father of two young daughters had a profile on the dating app Tinder.
Gardaí re-interviewed the crane driver’s Welsh wife in the past few days, and insiders say she was ‘shocked’ by her husband’s abduction and killing of 24-year-old Filipina student Ms Valdez.
A source said: ‘This woman is devastated and is trying to look after their two young children, one just eight months old and the other aged two. She is traumatised and upset by what happened. They may have had marital problems but she did not have any indication her husband was capable of this, she had no inkling he was so severely troubled.’
The Mail also understands the 40-year-old’s parents and siblings are ‘fully co-operating’ with gardaí as detectives try to ‘delve into his troubled state of mind’.
Sources said: ‘His own family had been caught totally off guard. It is fair to say no-one in his family saw this coming. They are assisting gardaí in every way with providing insight into his life.’
They are also preparing for his funeral as his body was last night lying in repose at a south Dublin funeral home. He will be cremated this weekend.
Investigating gardaí have received ‘well over 100’ calls and dash-cam footage from motorists who believe they saw Hennessy either before his frenzied attack on Saturday or on Sunday.
They are awaiting full results from computer analysts and phone providers to get a clear view of the killer’s phone usage. His phone was recovered from his SUV, but was badly broken.
Gardaí have also seized his laptop and are trying to determine what dating websites he was using in the months leading up to his death. They are still searching for Ms Valdez’s iPad mini. Her phone was found smashed at the scene of her abduction in Enniskerry and is it is being re-constructed. Sources stressed that ‘at present there is nothing [from their past] to link the victim and the killer’.
The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) said Hennessy was shot while sitting in his Nissan Qashqai SUV at the Cherrywood Business Park in south Dublin on Sunday.
Gardaí found a Stanley knife in the car, and his body bore evidence of self-harming. Gardaí believe he may have been trying to kill himself.
Gardaí have established that, in the months before Saturday’s murder, his life was in ‘freefall’ due to excessive alcohol and cocaine use. A senior source said: ‘Examining his social media and possible use of dating apps is a point of interest to investigators. His laptop was seized from his home.’
Hennessy was afraid his wife was about to leave him, taking their two young children to return to her homeland because of his drug and drink use.
Garda are now trawling his laptop to see if he tried to contact other potential targets on dating apps as his marriage deteriorated.
‘They may have had marital problems’