Wilkinstown Disappeared had been shot in head
by Paul Murphy
Two Belfast men who disappeared in 1972 and whose bodies were recovered from a bog at Coghalstown, Wilkinstown last year had both been shot in the head, an inquest in Dublin was told today.
Kevin McKee (16) and Seamus Wright (25) were unlawfully killed, a jury found. A number of experts from the Independent Commission for the Location of Victims' Remains, along with an anthropologist and State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy gave evidence of the recovery of the bodies and subsequent examination of the remains. Dublin City Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane also heard testimony from the McKee and Wright families.
In a joint statement after the inquest Philomena (Phil) McKee, Kevin’s sister and Philomena (Phil) Smyth his aunt said: “When Kevin was taken he was hardly more than a child. His mother never got over it and while it wasn’t until after nearly 40 years of mental torture that she died, in reality they may as well have murdererd her when they put Kevin into that hole in Co Meath in 1972.
But now Kevin is with his Mummy in a Christian grave where he should be.
He can now rest in peace. We are truely grateful for that. There are a number of people we would like to thank. - The Dublin Coroner for the sensitive way she has handled today’s inquest.
The Independent Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains (ICLVR) who found Kevin’s remains and restored them to us and whoever it was who came forward with the information that made it possible.
We are very conscious that when Kevin was found, the ICLVR was looking for Joe Lynskey and at first thought that they had found him.
We know that must have been a bitter blow to Maria Lynskey when it turned out that it wasn’t Joe but she is here with us today and it is the support of Maria and the other families of the Disappeared at the WAVE Trauma Centre that has been absolutely vital to keeping us strong over all these years.
The remains of Joe Lynskey, Columba McVeigh, Seamus Ruddy and Robert Nairac have yet to be restored to their families for Christian burial.
We hope and pray that their long wait will soon be over.'
The Wright family did not comment.