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A 62-year-old man is due to appear in court on Sunday to be charged with the murder of a woman (72) whose body was found in a burning car in a forest in North Cork earlier this week.
The Gardaí in Fermoy received instructions from the Director of the Public Ministry late Saturday night to charge the man with the murder of the mother of three, Mary O’Keeffe, of Dromahane, near Mallow.
The man, who is from Ardpatrick in Co Limerick, was charged at Fermoy Garda station at 11.30pm Saturday night with the murder of Ms O’Keeffe in Dromdeer, Doneraile on February 4.
The man is due to appear in a special Fermoy court at 11 am Sunday morning, when he will be charged with the murder of Ms O’Keeffe.
The man had been arrested by Gardaí around 4 p.m. Friday after being released from Cork University Hospital (CUH), where he had been treated for hypothermia and burns to his face. He had been taken to CUH on Thursday afternoon after members of the Cork Armed Support Unit rescued him from the Awbeg River between Doneraile and Castletownroche.
Gardaí had been alerted after a passerby reported seeing a burning car in a Coillte forest in Dromdeer, about 5 km from Doneraile.
Firefighters from the Cork County Fire Service Mallow unit managed to extinguish the fire, but it was clear that the woman was deceased and the scene and car were preserved by Gardaí.
Deputy State Pathologist Dr. Margaret Bolster conducted a preliminary examination of the woman’s body in the badly damaged Dacia Duster that was registered to the Limerick man.
The body of the woman, known locally as Mrs O’Keeffe, was later transferred to Cork University Hospital, where Dr Bolster carried out a post-mortem examination on Friday afternoon. Gardahí did not release Dr. Bolster’s autopsy findings or the result of a Garda technical examination of the man’s car for operational reasons.
Mrs O’Keeffe, a widow, was known for suspense and the Gardai believe that she had ridden in her own Ford Eco Sport from her home in Dromahane to the remote forest of Dromdeer. Originally from Lombardstown, Ms. O’Keeffe lived alone in Dromahane and worked as a cook on the Mallow Sheltered Care project, cooking for about 20 residents in downtown Sunnyhill.
Ms. O’Keeffe, who was widowed many years ago when her husband, Donal O’Keeffe, died, is survived by her three children, Ger, and twins, Christie and Donal, who are believed to be 40 years old.
Ger ‘Monkey’ O’Keeffe became quite well known as the lead singer of the Cork heavy metal band Sunking in the early 2000s and at one point auditioned to replace Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden.
Ms. O’Keeffe’s remains have yet to be released to her family, but a family funeral is expected to take place in Dromahane in the next few days in accordance with Covid-19 guidelines.
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