I’ll never give up trying to get justice for my Michael
Partner’s plea 16yrs after knifing
A WOMAN whose partner was stabbed to death in front of her has vowed to spend her life searching for a breakthrough to his murder.
Michael Gallagher, 60, was killed in a frenzied and unexplained assault in the home he shared with Sally Rodgers in Tallaght, Dublin, 16 years ago.
Despite the passage of time nobody has been charged with his death, as both gardai and the victim’s friends and family admit they are still puzzled as to why he was targeted and by whom.
The brutal attack took place after two masked men – one brandishing a knife and the other a hammer – burst into their home on the evening of January 18, 2007, after Ms Rodgers opened her front door.
Mr Gallagher, a separated father of five from Mohill, Co Leitrim, was violently assaulted in the couple’s kitchen and died in a pool of blood after being stabbed 15 times.
Ms Rodgers, who is a part-time special needs assistant, also received several hammer blows to her body. To this day Ms Rodgers, 67, believes her late partner – a painter and decorator, who she describes as “a good man who had never been in any trouble” – may have been wrongly targeted in a case of mistaken identity.
The grandmotherof-four, who has worked with crime victims’ group ADVIC, last week marked the anniversary of Mr Gallagher’s death.
She said: “I’m not getting any younger, and my biggest fear is that I will die without getting answers. We still have absolutely no idea why he was attacked and by who. And my fear is that those two men are still at large and could kill again. That thought terrifies me.
“The longer this goes on, the more I start to lose hope. But I can’t give up fighting for justice, and I won’t give up. Those two men are still out there, and someone sent them to our home. I urge anyone with information to please do the right thing and contact the gardai.”