SHOCK AND DISBELIEF
THERE WAS shock and disbelief over the weekend as Enniskerry woman Jastine Valdez was abducted and murdered, and her suspected killer shot dead by armed gardaí.
Gardaí are appealing for sightings or dashcam footage, particularly of the black Nissan Qashqai 171 D 20419.
Bernard Cawley, a businessman in Enniskerry, said that Jastine was a regular customer of his. ‘She was a lovely person,’ he said, whose smile ‘would light up the whole place’.
Jastine (24), a native of the Phillipines, was forced into a car close to home last Saturday evening. Gardaí believe she was dead within an hour.
Her killer Mark Hennessy (40) was a resident of Woodbrook Lawn in Bray. He was fatally wounded by armed gardaí on Sunday evening.
‘SHOCKED’ and ‘sad’ were the words frequently used by Enniskerry residents last Monday as they struggled to come to terms with a frightening abduction in the otherwise peaceful village.
Most individuals and businesses didn’t know Jastine Valdez, a 24-year-old student who lived with her parents just outside the village.
As her neighbours answered questions, gardai were closing in on Jastine’s remains, so callously dumped in a remote area past Pucks Castle.
Mark Hennessy had punched her and forced her into his car on Saturday evening, with events leading to gardai shooting him dead in a standoff at Cherrywood.
Hennessy (40), a resident of Woodbrook Lawn in Bray, was a native of Ballybrack. He was a married father-oftwo and a quantity surveyor.
He was seen out socialising in the Ballybrack area on the night before the abduction, and again on Saturday after Jastine had been killed. Hennessy told his wife he was going out with friends, and he never came home.
There was a family celebration on Sunday, Hennessy was not present.
‘I can’t believe this happened in broad daylight,’ said a shop assistant who lives and works in Enniskerry. ‘You see how quiet it is here. People just can’t really believe what’s happened.’
The lady added that the whole village was hoping for a happy resolution. Sadly that was not to be.
‘It’s even strange to see the road closed,’ said a man walking through his home village. ‘Everyone’s the same. They can’t believe it happened. Especially here.’
A woman en-route to collect a child from school described what was happening as ‘ horrifying’. She said that she didn’t know the young lady, but remembers seeing her jogging around the village.
Another woman said that she will be nervous to go walking or jogging, in light of what has happened. ‘It’s been doom and gloom in the village for the past days,’ she said.
Bernard Cawley, who runs a dry-cleaning business, said that Jastine was a regular customer, and a lovely person, whose smile would ‘ light up the whole place’.