Rapist Larry Murphy’s brother questioned him about missing women

Larry Murphy photographed at Heuston Station in Dublin in 2010. Photo: David Conachy

Maeve Sheehan

Larry Murphy’s estranged brother questioned the sex offender about his involvement in the disappearance of Ireland’s missing women, but “got no answers”.

Tom Murphy told an RTÉ documentary that he confronted Larry Murphy in Arbour Hill Prison in 2005 — the last time he saw his brother

“I asked him had he anything to do with the missing women. I wasn’t happy with his answers. I wasn’t at all happy with them. I didn’t get any answers,” he told Missing: Beyond the Vanishing Triangle. “I never want to see him again.

“I can’t begin to comprehend the suffering these families are going through. They get up in the morning to a house, their daughter isn’t there. They’re sitting watching the front door to open for her to walk in. I have a daughter myself. I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like.”

Larry Murphy served 10 years in jail for raping and attempting to murder a woman he abducted in Carlow.

He was investigated by Operation Trace, which was set up to review the cases of six women who disappeared in Leinster in the 1990s.

Retired garda Alan Bailey, who investigated Murphy as part of Operation Trace, told the documentary: “Larry, of course, because of the modus operandi he used in the abduction and assault, became a person of interest to the investigation.

“He ticked an awful lot of boxes for us. We went back to school, to work and all that, just to establish a picture of him and see if we could connect him to any of our missing persons.”​​​​​​​