My Santina’s killer has to die in jail..
Tot’s heartbroken dad fears cruel Harrington will one day walk free
THE heartbroken father of murdered two-year-old Santina Cawley says her killer Karen Harrington deserves the death penalty.
In his first interview since the 38-year-old was convicted of his daughter’s murder in Cork this week, Michael Cawley also said he hopes the “devious” killer “dies behind bars,” and he wishes he could turn back time and never have met her.
The grieving dad added: “We wouldn’t be able to live in the same world as her if she got out.
“She has to die in jail.”
Michael had up until now been unable to speak following the gruelling four-week trial of his former partner Karen Harrington.
The callous killer brutally murdered his child – leaving him to find her badly injured body at her apartment in Elderwood Park in Cork city on July 2019.
The horror of discovering little Santina, lying on a blanket and covered in blood, will stay with him for the rest of his life – and he now believes her killer should be given the death penalty.
He said: “This should never happen again to any child in Ireland.
“I would like if the death penalty could be brought back to Ireland for circumstances like this. I would prefer if that was the law. “That is my wish for her.” Michael says he not only wishes he could take back that horrific night in July 2019 – but also his ever meeting and forming a relationship with the woman who murdered his child.
Michael said: “I’m haunted by the horrors of it. I wish I could pull back time and never meet Karen in the first place.”
Just what he went through on that night and the days that followed is still too painful for Michael – and he says he will be dealing with that grief for years to come.
“She was such a beautiful child. I loved her so much. It breaks my heart that she’s gone.
GRIEF
“I remember her every day like it was yesterday. It’s hard to move on from it but I do have to learn how to live with it, as hard as it is.
“I don’t want to end up in a grave. I have to try and make space in my own life now and let the grief to one side and my anger about it on the other side.”
Michael’s feelings towards Harrington are of anger
– but he says he hopes she one day she has the courage to admit what she did to give him some closure.
Michael added: “I would like if she did admit to it and if she did apologise.”
But he says
Harrington is deceptive and a liar – and her true character came out after she refused to admit to murdering his child, despite the overwhelming evidence against her.
He now feels that the woman he thought he knew didn’t exist.
He said: “I don’t know. Karen Harrington. I don’t know her. She’s just too devious. She was not admitting to anything.
“She lied through the whole lot of this. And she destroyed my family in a lot of ways.”
When interviewed by gardai, Harrington said she couldn’t account for the 53 injuries incurred upon Santina – and she couldn’t say who had harmed the child. Michael said it was very telling that Karen had no recall of the murder yet was able to recount every event leading up to and immediately after it.
He said: “She could remember everything but she couldn’t remember that. She’s a compulsive liar. She didn’t want to take responsibility for her actions.”
Michael said he was “thankful for the CCTV” which proved his version of events – that he left Harrington’s apartment after an argument, and that Santina had been left with her in the early hours of the morning, before he returned to the horrific scene.
When Harrington was convicted of the murder after a jury deliberated for nearly five hours on Monday, Michael
said he felt a great sense of relief. He added: “We were glad of the justice that we got from the jury. And to be honest I wasn’t even looking at her.
“Getting justice was a huge moment. I can start grieving now instead of just going to look at her grave and thinking she should not be there.”
While Michael believes Harrington should serve the rest of her life behind bars, he is realistic about the prospect of her eventual release.
He said: “She should be in there for her entire life and never get out.
“I reckon she will do 30 years. But I don’t want her out. If she does get out then it’s like day one all over again.”