‘We weren’t happy that Jastine’s killer died’
‘We wanted to know why he did this,’ say parents
‘We can never repay the Irish’
THE parents of student Jastine Valdez who was kidnapped and brutally murdered by Mark Hennessy have said the pain of losing their daughter has not been eased by knowing her killer was shot dead by gardaí.
The 24-year-old, who had no connection to her murderer, was strangled in a random attack in Co. Wicklow earlier this year.
She was walking to the home she shared with her parents in Enniskerry on May 19 when Hennessy struck.
He was later shot dead by gardaí at Cherrywood Business Park in south Dublin, a little over 24 hours after Ms Valdez went missing.
Ms Valdez’s body was discovered in thick undergrowth in the Puck’s Castle area of Co. Dublin. The accountancy student, originally from the Philippines, lived in Enniskerry in Wicklow while Hennessy, 40, lived with his wife and two children in nearby Bray.
Teresito, known as Tess, and Danilo Valdez said knowing Jastine’s killer was no longer alive did not give them any solace.
‘It didn’t help, it didn’t ease the pain,’ said Teresito. It didn’t ease the pain at all, it didn’t matter. Jastine was gone.’
The couple moved to Ireland from the Philippines in 2001 to help provide for their daughter. Ms Valdez, who was seven at the time, was raised by her grandmother until the Valdezes could afford for their daughter to join them in 2015.
Mr and Mrs Valdez told RTÉ’s Today With Miriam programme that they were ‘sad’ that Mr Hennessy had been killed.
‘We were quite disappointed that he was killed quite quickly,’ Mr Valdez said.
‘There are a lot of questions in our mind. We wanted to know more about why he did such a terrible thing.’
A search for Jastine was launched soon after but Tess said it wasn’t until the 3pm on the following Monday that they got a knock on the door to be informed that their daughter’s body had been found.
However, it wasn’t until 10pm that night that the family were told that it was Mark Hennessy – who was shot and killed by gardaí the night before – who was responsible for the abduction and murder of Jastine.
Tess, who is religious, said that she questioned why God would allow something like this to happen.
‘It really hurt us because we also question God. Why is it when we needed him the most to protect our child or to help our child he wasn’t there,’ she said. Tess and Danny said that they are not angry at Ireland and that the country has been very good to their family.
Only Hennessy was to blame for the death, they said.
‘Saying thank you is not enough compared to what you have done to help us. We will always feel indebted and can never repay you for your kindness,’ said Tess.
The parents moved to Ireland to work in the 1990s, sending the money they earned home to the Phillipines to help support Jastine, who was living there with relatives.
She moved to Ireland three years ago to be with her family.
Jastine’s body was returned to the Phillipines and buried in early July.
Her parents have now returned to Ireland and are looking for work and a new home.
‘We feel very sad because we came back here and we’re living in someone else’s home, it doesn’t feel right ’ said Tess. ‘It’s hard enough we lost Jastine, it’s harder now that we have to look for another job and look for a new home.’
She doesn’t mind where she works. ‘I could work as a cleaner in a hospital or wherever there is a job for me, I’ll do it,’ she said, while her husband Danny is so distraught and stressed about what has happened he can’t think about working yet.
The GoFundMe fundraising campaign for the family has been restarted to help the family get through this difficult period.