Draft:Murder of Sinéad Kelly

Sinéad Kelly is an Irish woman who was murdered in Dublin city on 22 June 1998. As of 2024, her murder remains unsolved.

Background
Sinad was 21 years old at the time of her death. She was from Santry and working as a prostitute in order to earn money in order to fund her heroin addiction. Despite her addiction, the toxicology tests performed following her death determined she only had prescription drugs in her system at the time of her death. Two months prior to her death, Sinéad had been raped and beaten in a separate attack.

Death
At 12:30am on June 22 1998 at Herbert Place on the banks of the Grand Canal, a witness heard a woman scream "God someone help, someone please, please help me.” Gardaí were called and Sinéad Kelly was found deceased. It was later determined that she had died after being stabbed 18 times to her head, neck, chest, and back. The same witness reported seeing a man jog away from the scene. He was reported to be a well-built man wearing a tight black leather jacket which had a buckle on the left shoulder. He also wore dark jeans and a knitted wool hat.

Investigation
Gardaí believe Sinéad was lured to her death and that murder may be linked to a drug debt she owed to a heroin dealer. Two men were arrested early into the investigation, including one man reportedly linked to a notorious Crumlin crime family, but both were released without charge A man from Dublin was also questioned about Sinéad's murder in Kensington, London.

Gardaí linked Sinéad's murder to another attack on a prostitute which took place in September 1998 in Dublin. During this attack, a 28 year old woman was stabbed with a stanley knife on Benburb Street in Dublin. Gardaí believe the same drug dealing gang that killed Sinéad targetted this woman as she could potentially help Gardaí investigate Sinéad's murder.

In 2017 a Garda informant inplicated an unnamed suspect in Sinéad's murder in the disappearance of Trevor Deely who disappeared in Dublin in December 2000.