Wicklow’s horror at abduction and killing

THE ENTIRE county has been left shocked after the abduction and killing of Justine Valdez in north Wicklow.

Mark Hennessy killed Jastine Valdez within an hour of taking her from the side of the road in Enniskerry last Saturday evening, gardaí believe.

Video footage has emerged revealing that some hours later, Hennessy (40) was relaxed and jovial while out for drinks in the Ballybrack area.

‘We know he was out drinking in Ballybrack,’ said Garda Declan Lynch of Bray Garda Station. Investigators have tracked his movements over the period from Saturday afternoon to Sunday evening.

Hennessy was drinking and taking drugs and chatting to other customers in the pub, a relatively short time after carrying out his a heinously violent act.

Jastine’s remains had been left down an embankment thick with gorse. A post mortem will reveal the extent of her injuries, which included scrapes and scratches on her hands.

A woman saw Ms Valdez being forced into a car on Saturday evening in Enniskerry. Jastine had gotten off a bus at Kilcroney Road at around 5.30 p.m., and was making the rest of the journey home on foot.

Later that night, her parents contacted gardaí to report their daughter missing. As the hours passed, concern for her safety grew.

The following day, gardaí searched the location she was last seen and found Jastine’s mobile phone. They then released a description of the vehicle, as well as a description of the missing woman, and partial number plate, with the full number plate to follow later in the afternoon. The car was seen on Quarry Road 35 minutes after Hennessy abducted Jastine, not far from where her remains were later found behind the old golf course. A man reported seeing a woman in distress in the back seat.

On Monday night, Deputy State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan carried out a preliminary examination at the Pluck’s Castle site. Teams were searching sites at Killiney and Rathmichael on Monday morning in the aftermath of Hennessy’s death. They found a purse and a sock belonging to Ms Valdez at different spots in Rathmichael. Gardaí believe her body was dragged over the terrain there through gorse before being disposed of in the thicker gorse bank.

Gardaí said that they will be investigating any potential link between Hennessy and other similar crimes in the Wicklow and Leinster areas over the past decades. This would be a matter of course given the modus operandi of the killer.

Hennessy contacted a female relative hours before his death, saying he wouldn’t be back. Gardaí found a bloodstained note in the vehicle, indicating where to look for Jastine. The note has been sent for forensic examination.

Hennessy was self-harming in the car when confronted by gardaí. He attempted to slit his wrists and cut his throat. He was wielding a Stanley knife and trying to attack gardaí when shot.

He was pronounced dead in hospital a short time later.

The encounter occurred at around 8 p.m. on Sunday night at a car park on the