# 281: The McElhill Family

An episode of [Morbidology](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1463979546), 4 Nov 2024, 50 min.

Audio: https://prefix.up.audio/s/dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/s.gum.fm/s-610c47a4222ada0024acb2d8/pscrb.fm/rss/p/prfx.byspotify.com/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/2IMk17EdnEqyRhJTIpIU/claritaspod.com/measure/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/62114740/morbidology_281_arthur_mcelhill.mp3

Residents of Lemmy Crescent in Omagh, Northern Ireland, were awoken in the early morning one winter night in November 2007. Their peace was shattered by deafening screams coming from somewhere nearby. As they looked out of their windows, an orange glow illuminated the darkness. SHOW NOTES - https://www.morbidology-the-podcast-281-the-mcelhills PATREON - https://www.patreon.com/morbidology YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/morbidology SPONSORS - June’s Journey: Do you love a good mystery that keeps you on the edge of your seat? It’s time to download June’s Journey for free on iOS and Android!Tile: Keep track of your misplaced items with Tile: Family-proof your life with Life360’s Tile Trackers. Get 15% off with the code “MORBIDOLOGY” at: https://tile.com/ SmartLabels: Get prepared for fall with SmartLabels. Purchase their QR code labels on Amazon, which are now available in the UK! JLo Beauty: JLo Beauty’s Deluxe Kit is the ‘One and Done’ skincare solution clinically proven to tighten and lift for instant, long-lasting results. Get a special gift of four free masks and free shipping at: https://jlobeauty.com/MORBIDOLOGY Audio Credit: Epidemic Sound Evening of Chaos - Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Empty Reflections - ErikMMusic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgq4SPKHlyI A Mothers Sacrifice - OurMusicBox - https://ourmusicbox.com/ Dark Tranquility - Anno Domini Beats - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6mBav72Ak Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/morbidology--3527306/support.

## Transcript

[0:44] Speaker 1: Oma is a small town nestled in the rolling hills
[0:46] Speaker 1: of County Trone in Northern Ireland. The town streets are
[0:51] Speaker 1: lined with modest shops, schools and churches that serve as
[0:54] Speaker 1: the heart of the local life for generations. Families and
[0:59] Speaker 1: Oma took part in their resilience, having weathered the many
[1:02] Speaker 1: challenges faced by Northern Ireland through decades of political turmoil
[1:07] Speaker 1: and conflict. However, Oma's peace was truly shattered on a
[1:12] Speaker 1: tragic summer day in August of nineteen ninety eight, when
[1:15] Speaker 1: the town became the scene of Northern Ireland's deadliest terror strike.
[1:20] Speaker 1: A car bomb planted in the heart of the town
[1:23] Speaker 1: by the Real Ira, exploded with devastating force. The attack
[1:28] Speaker 1: claimed the lives of twenty nine people, including children, and
[1:32] Speaker 1: left more than two hundred others wounded. The sheer scale
[1:36] Speaker 1: of the tragedy sent shockwaves not only through Omah but
[1:40] Speaker 1: across the world, as images of the aftermath captured the
[1:43] Speaker 1: heartbreak and devastation faced by the community. The bombing had
[1:48] Speaker 1: come just months after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement,
[1:51] Speaker 1: a historic peace deal intended to bring an end to
[1:54] Speaker 1: the sectarian violence that have plagued Northern Ireland for decades.
[1:59] Speaker 1: For men, Oma's loss was a cruel reminder of how
[2:02] Speaker 1: fragile peace could be, and it left a deep scar
[2:05] Speaker 1: on the town. Though the people of Omah displayed remarkable
[2:09] Speaker 1: strength in the face of the tragedy, the wounds from
[2:12] Speaker 1: that day never fully healed. Monuments and memorials were erected
[2:17] Speaker 1: in memory of the victims, and while time moved forward,
[2:21] Speaker 1: the grief lingered. Just as Oma was trying to recover
[2:24] Speaker 1: from the horror of the bombing, the toime was thrust
[2:27] Speaker 1: into the global spotlight once again, under profoundly different but
[2:32] Speaker 1: equally heart wrenching circumstances. Arthur Mcelhill's life was marked by
[2:51] Speaker 1: an early struggle with mental health, a shadow that persistently
[2:55] Speaker 1: followed him from a young age. He wrestled with depression
[2:59] Speaker 1: that in intensified as he grew older. By the time
[3:03] Speaker 1: he was seventeen, the weight of his emotions had become
[3:05] Speaker 1: overwhelming and he had attempted to take his own life
[3:08] Speaker 1: multiple times. Just before his seventeenth birthday, Arthur sought help
[3:14] Speaker 1: at the mental health clinic at the Tyrone and Fermana Hospital.
[3:18] Speaker 1: Desperation had led him to the clinic, but the support
[3:21] Speaker 1: he received was inadequate. The local consultant psychiatrist who assessed
[3:26] Speaker 1: him offered minimal guidance. The care that Arthur needed most
[3:30] Speaker 1: eluded him. His inner despair deepened further. Less than a
[3:35] Speaker 1: month later, on the fourteenth of October nineteen eighty eight,
[3:38] Speaker 1: Arthur made another attempt on his life. This time he
[3:43] Speaker 1: drove his car into a wall, hoping that the impact
[3:45] Speaker 1: would end his suffering Reraculously. However, Arthur survived and was
[3:51] Speaker 1: admitted once more to the hospital. He confided that his
[3:54] Speaker 1: attempt had been driven by grief over the death of
[3:57] Speaker 1: a close friend. Despite his his fragile state, Arthur was
[4:01] Speaker 1: discharged just six days later against medical advice. He was, however,
[4:06] Speaker 1: kept in contact with a mental health social worker, but
[4:10] Speaker 1: the support was still too little, too late. Seven months
[4:14] Speaker 1: after his discharge, Arthur was completely released from the mental
[4:17] Speaker 1: health service. His battles continued simmering beneath the surface, unresolved. Then,
[4:25] Speaker 1: in October of nineteen ninety two, Arthur's life took another
[4:28] Speaker 1: dark turn. He found himself at the center of a
[4:32] Speaker 1: terrifying incident in which the car he was driving was
[4:35] Speaker 1: shot at, leaving his passenger wounded. They had been the
[4:39] Speaker 1: victims of a mistaken identity ira gun attack. The violence,
[4:45] Speaker 1: which was all too common in Northern Ireland at the time,
[4:47] Speaker 1: shook Arthur to his core. This brush with death added
[4:51] Speaker 1: yet another layer to the trauma he had endured. Less
[4:56] Speaker 1: than a year later, in September of nineteen ninety three,
[4:59] Speaker 1: Arthur was victed of aggravated burglary and the brutal, indecent
[5:03] Speaker 1: assault of a seventeen year old girl. Under the cover
[5:07] Speaker 1: of darkness. He had crept into her bedroom, a place
[5:10] Speaker 1: where she should have been safe. The assault was violent
[5:13] Speaker 1: and terrifying, leaving the girl with physical and emotional scars.
[5:19] Speaker 1: She later recalled, I thought I was going to die.
[5:22] Speaker 1: That never leaves you. You think you're going to be
[5:25] Speaker 1: safe in your own home, but that wasn't the case.
[5:29] Speaker 1: The court deferred his sentence for six months, imposing several
[5:32] Speaker 1: conditions upon him. He was required to attend counseling sessions,
[5:37] Speaker 1: remain in contact with a probation officer, and abstained from alcohol.
[5:42] Speaker 1: Later in nineteen ninety four, at the age of twenty two,
[5:45] Speaker 1: Arthur mcelhill met fifteen year old Lorraine McGovern. He began
[5:50] Speaker 1: grooming her and soon after she learned that she was pregnant.
[5:55] Speaker 1: For the first several months, Lorraine kept the pregnancy a
[5:57] Speaker 1: secret from Arthur, unsure of how he was would react,
[6:02] Speaker 1: but as her judy it neared, she finally told him
[6:04] Speaker 1: that she was expecting his child. On the twenty eighth
[6:07] Speaker 1: of August nineteen ninety four, Lorraine gave birth to a
[6:10] Speaker 1: healthy baby girl, who she named Caroline. In the beginning,
[6:15] Speaker 1: Lorrain and Caroline stayed with her parents in County Cavan,
[6:18] Speaker 1: while Arthur continued living with his parents in Oma. He
[6:22] Speaker 1: frequently visited Lorraine and his baby daughter. However, when Lorraine
[6:27] Speaker 1: turned seventeen, she made the decision to leave her parents
[6:30] Speaker 1: home and moved to Omah, bringing Caroline with her. Although
[6:36] Speaker 1: her parents were upset by her decision, there was little
[6:39] Speaker 1: they could do to stop her and Omah. Lorrain and
[6:43] Speaker 1: Caroline initially moved in with Arthur's sister, while Arthur continued
[6:47] Speaker 1: living with his parents, but visited regularly. As the years passed,
[6:52] Speaker 1: Arthur's troubles resurfaced in September of nineteen ninety six, while
[6:58] Speaker 1: intoxicated section, the assaulted a seventeen year old girl after
[7:02] Speaker 1: entering her home. The offense resulted in his referral by
[7:06] Speaker 1: probation to earnhouse for psychosexual counseling in an effort to
[7:10] Speaker 1: address his behavior. The Probation service also requested an assessment
[7:15] Speaker 1: of Lorraine and Caroline by social services to ensure their safety.
[7:22] Speaker 1: After an evaluation, the case was closed in February of
[7:25] Speaker 1: nineteen ninety seven with no immediate child protection concerns identified,
[7:30] Speaker 1: but Arthur's actions caught up with him. In April of
[7:34] Speaker 1: nineteen ninety eight, he was convicted of the sexual assault
[7:37] Speaker 1: and sentenced to three years in prison, followed by a
[7:40] Speaker 1: two year custody probation order. He was also placed on
[7:44] Speaker 1: the sex offender registration list indefinitely. Upon his release on
[7:49] Speaker 1: the twelfth of August nineteen ninety nine, Arthur moved back
[7:52] Speaker 1: in with his parents, but soon after, in September of
[7:56] Speaker 1: nineteen ninety nine, his daughter Caroline was identified as a
[7:59] Speaker 1: potential sexual abuse victim. Arthur himself was classified as a
[8:04] Speaker 1: high risk for re offending. Shortly after this assessment, the
[8:09] Speaker 1: family relocated to a new home of for Lemmy Crescent
[8:12] Speaker 1: in Oma. Arthur's living situation was closely monitored and he
[8:18] Speaker 1: was required to comply with the Sex Offender Registrations game
[8:21] Speaker 1: by notifying his probation officer and the PSNI of his
[8:25] Speaker 1: change of address. At this point, Lorrain was pregnant again,
[8:29] Speaker 1: and on the eighteenth of April two thousand, she gave
[8:32] Speaker 1: birth to their second child, a baby boy they named Sean.
[8:38] Speaker 1: Although the family appeared to be growing, their case was
[8:41] Speaker 1: transferred to the Long Term Intervention Team that same month,
[8:44] Speaker 1: reflecting ongoing concerns about their situation. A new social worker
[8:50] Speaker 1: was assigned to monitor them, indicating that the family struggles
[8:54] Speaker 1: and Arthur's past continued to cast a shadow over their lives.
[9:08] Speaker 1: When Shawn was just two months old, a further child
[9:10] Speaker 1: protection review conference was convened. The psychologist who had been
[9:16] Speaker 1: working with Arthur at Earn House provided an update on
[9:18] Speaker 1: his progress. They reported that his abuse of alcohol had
[9:23] Speaker 1: decreased significantly. However, they also emphasized that given his history
[9:28] Speaker 1: of offenses, Arthur remained a risk to older teenage girls.
[9:34] Speaker 1: Despite this, the psychologists didn't believe that Arthur posed a
[9:37] Speaker 1: threat to younger children, although they acknowledged that there were
[9:40] Speaker 1: no guarantees. The psychologist also indicated that ongoing work was
[9:45] Speaker 1: needed both with Arthur and Lorraine. In particular, he said
[9:50] Speaker 1: that Lorraine needed support to strengthen her role as a
[9:53] Speaker 1: protector for their children. The sterview was followed up by
[9:57] Speaker 1: another in December of two thousand, which resulted in the
[10:00] Speaker 1: decision to remove Caroline's name from the child protection register.
[10:05] Speaker 1: A social worker had visited the family home and found
[10:08] Speaker 1: that both parents were cooperative, and the psychologist observed that
[10:11] Speaker 1: Arthur was making remarkable progress in his rehabilitation. The family's
[10:16] Speaker 1: general practitioner also provided a positive report, noting that the
[10:21] Speaker 1: children were thriving and receiving excellent care from both Arthur
[10:25] Speaker 1: and the rain. With these ongoing assessments, the case was
[10:29] Speaker 1: closed and in August of two thousand one, Arthur was
[10:32] Speaker 1: no longer subject to the custody probation order. His risk level,
[10:38] Speaker 1: which was initially considered high, had been dongraded to medium
[10:41] Speaker 1: and later reassessed as low. The Halloween fades in the
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[11:38] Speaker 1: moved forward, their lives seemed to stabilize, and on the
[11:42] Speaker 1: twenty sixth of June two thousand and three, Lorrain and
[11:44] Speaker 1: Arthur welcome their third child, a baby girl named Belinda.
[11:50] Speaker 1: Despite this joyful occasion, Lorraine struggled after the birth and
[11:53] Speaker 1: was diagnosed with postnatal depression. She was prescribed medication to
[11:58] Speaker 1: help her through this difficult peer, but her challenges continued
[12:02] Speaker 1: as the family grew. On the fifteenth of April two
[12:05] Speaker 1: thousand and five, Lorraine gave birth to another daughter, Clodagh,
[12:09] Speaker 1: and less than two years later, on the twenty first
[12:12] Speaker 1: of January two thousand and seven, their fifth child, James
[12:15] Speaker 1: was born. By two thousand and seven, the Miguel Hill
[12:26] Speaker 1: family had settled into a modest, three bedroom terrace home
[12:30] Speaker 1: on Lammy Crescent in Oma. The family had grown and
[12:34] Speaker 1: established themselves within the community, with each of the children
[12:38] Speaker 1: beginning to find their place in the world. Caroline, the eldest,
[12:43] Speaker 1: was now thirteen years old and a student at Secret
[12:46] Speaker 1: Heart College, described as a lively and vibrant girl by
[12:50] Speaker 1: her headmaster, Donald McDermott. He said that she was full
[12:54] Speaker 1: of cest and life. Sean, at seven years old, was
[12:58] Speaker 1: attending Saint Connor's Prime Memory School along with his younger sister,
[13:02] Speaker 1: four year old Billina, who had just started her early
[13:05] Speaker 1: school years. There, Sean was making preparations for his first
[13:09] Speaker 1: Holy Communion and was a massive football fan. Katrina mcgelligan,
[13:14] Speaker 1: the principal of the school, said that the siblings were
[13:16] Speaker 1: lovely children and a joy to teach. Clodagh, only twenty
[13:21] Speaker 1: months old, had begun preschool, a milestone that Lorraine took
[13:25] Speaker 1: great pride in. The youngest of the family, James, at
[13:29] Speaker 1: ten months old, had recently been christened at the local church.
[13:34] Speaker 1: Lorraine had found immense purpose in being a mother. She
[13:37] Speaker 1: was devoted to her children, pouring her love and attention
[13:40] Speaker 1: into their upbringing. Friends often spoke of her maternal dedication,
[13:45] Speaker 1: with Denise, one of her closest friends, remarking she was
[13:49] Speaker 1: the loveliest woman you'd ever meet. Lorraine had long dreamed
[13:54] Speaker 1: of getting married and hoped to expand her family even further.
[13:58] Speaker 1: Her wish was to have six children, and with five Oreti,
[14:02] Speaker 1: she was well on her way to fulfilling that dream.
[14:05] Speaker 1: Her friends often noted her unwavering commitment to her children.
[14:09] Speaker 1: She always made sure that their homework was completed, their
[14:12] Speaker 1: clothes were always clean, and their bellies were never empty.
[14:17] Speaker 1: As her friend Charlene said, she was friendly, a bubbly
[14:21] Speaker 1: girl who seemed to be wild about her wee ones. Gronya,
[14:25] Speaker 1: another close friend, echoed these sentiments, painting a picture of
[14:29] Speaker 1: Lorraine as a deeply caring mother who led a simple,
[14:32] Speaker 1: yet fulfilling life. She stated, the Rain is just an
[14:37] Speaker 1: ordinary mum. She loves those children and they love her.
[14:41] Speaker 1: The Rain and Arthur are tightwei family, and the kids
[14:44] Speaker 1: want for nothing. She's not a party animal and her
[14:47] Speaker 1: only luxury is the odd cigarette. Despite Arthur's troubled past
[14:53] Speaker 1: in the family's financial struggles, the rain had managed to
[14:57] Speaker 1: create a warm, nurturing environment for her children. It was
[15:11] Speaker 1: around four a m. On the thirteenth of November two
[15:14] Speaker 1: thousand and six when the quiet of Lammi Crescent was
[15:17] Speaker 1: shattered by the sound of deafening screams. The street, which
[15:22] Speaker 1: was typically peaceful at that hour except for a few
[15:25] Speaker 1: early risers preparing for the day, suddenly became a scene
[15:29] Speaker 1: of chaos. Residents who had been startled from their sleep
[15:34] Speaker 1: rubbed their eyes and peered out of their bedroom windows
[15:37] Speaker 1: in search of the source of the disturbance. They could
[15:41] Speaker 1: immediately see that the mckel Hill Families and Terrace home
[15:45] Speaker 1: was engulfed in flames. The orange glow lit up the
[15:50] Speaker 1: entire street. The screams were coming from inside the burning home,
[15:55] Speaker 1: and desperate cries for help echoed up and down the street.
[16:00] Speaker 1: Neighbors rushed outside in their pajamas, some carrying buckets of water,
[16:04] Speaker 1: others with ladders, all frantically trying to help, but the
[16:09] Speaker 1: fire was too fierce, too fast. As they reached the yard,
[16:14] Speaker 1: the flames had already consumed much of the home and
[16:17] Speaker 1: there was little that anybody could do. Figures could be
[16:22] Speaker 1: seen in the upstairs windows, their faces lit by the blaze,
[16:26] Speaker 1: screaming and banging on the glass. Stephen Mullen, a nearby resident,
[16:32] Speaker 1: recalled the horror vividly. I heard a roaring and mister
[16:37] Speaker 1: mcgel hill was shouting help. He was trying to break
[16:40] Speaker 1: the window, But just as Arthur made one last desperate
[16:44] Speaker 1: attempt to escape, the window exploded and flames surged outward,
[16:50] Speaker 1: engulfing him in an instant Stephen could only watch on
[16:54] Speaker 1: in disbelief as the fire claimed him. The intensity of
[16:59] Speaker 1: the flames left the neighbors helpless, reduced to standing outside
[17:03] Speaker 1: in shock. Paul Dorn, another resident, shared his grim realization.
[17:10] Speaker 1: Suddenly the screams for help stopped, and I knew there
[17:14] Speaker 1: was nothing more to be done. Within minutes, five fire
[17:18] Speaker 1: engines and forty firefighters from Omah and the surrounding areas
[17:22] Speaker 1: sped to the scene, their sirens slicing through the otherwise
[17:25] Speaker 1: still morning. But as they arrived, it became clear that
[17:30] Speaker 1: the blaze had already consumed almost everything. The roof began
[17:35] Speaker 1: to buckle and collapse inward. The one staafening screams had
[17:39] Speaker 1: faded into an eerie silence, replaced only by the crackling
[17:43] Speaker 1: of the flames and the groaning of the collapsing structure.
[17:48] Speaker 1: Once the flames were extinguished, the firefighters entered the still
[17:51] Speaker 1: smoldering home. Smoke stained photographs of children hung on the walls.
[17:58] Speaker 1: The fire had burned everything in its path, leading the
[18:01] Speaker 1: interior completely black. In the master bedroom, the firefighters came
[18:07] Speaker 1: across two adult bodies. It was Lorraine and Arthur. There
[18:13] Speaker 1: was a call in the bedroom containing the body of
[18:16] Speaker 1: baby James. His appearance was reduced to that of a
[18:20] Speaker 1: doll after the intense hate had melted his flesh. The
[18:25] Speaker 1: firefighters continued in their grim search. In a back bedroom,
[18:31] Speaker 1: they found Caroline, Sean, Bellina and Clodagh. Firefighter David Canning
[18:37] Speaker 1: later recalled, I could see three other children in the
[18:41] Speaker 1: back bedroom and a skull lying on the bottom bunk
[18:44] Speaker 1: in that room. It was far too late for anybody.
[18:50] Speaker 1: The entire family was dead. As news of the tragedy
[19:01] Speaker 1: swept through the town of Omah, Detective Chief Superintendent Norman
[19:04] Speaker 1: Baxter announced that they were carrying out a full investigation.
[19:10] Speaker 1: He said they needed to try and establish if there
[19:12] Speaker 1: were any untoward circumstances. As part of the investigation, he
[19:17] Speaker 1: said he needed to check and see if there were
[19:19] Speaker 1: any difficulties within the family or tensions with people in
[19:22] Speaker 1: the area. As the investigation commenced, the community were left
[19:27] Speaker 1: horrified by what had happened. Oma had its fair share
[19:32] Speaker 1: of tragedy and it was just another terrible blow to
[19:35] Speaker 1: the community. It was the deadliest house fire in Northern
[19:39] Speaker 1: Ireland history, and a quiet air fell across the town.
[19:44] Speaker 1: The neighbors who had desperately tried to help the family
[19:47] Speaker 1: were left distraught. One of them said, when I saw
[19:52] Speaker 1: those flames, it was obvious nobody could have survived. Their
[19:56] Speaker 1: house was completely engulfed. It's absolutely shocking for a fami
[20:00] Speaker 1: to be wiped out like that, especially a wee boy
[20:03] Speaker 1: who wasn't even one yet. A makeshift memorial began to
[20:07] Speaker 1: form outside the family home as people left behind cards
[20:11] Speaker 1: of condolences and trinkets. The house was still smoldering, but
[20:15] Speaker 1: people gathered wrapped up warm in their pajamas and dressing gowns.
[20:21] Speaker 1: Parish priest Joseph Donnelly said to reporters that James had
[20:24] Speaker 1: only just been christened. He stood outside the family's home
[20:29] Speaker 1: as he said, words fail me. We had a family
[20:32] Speaker 1: in this house, yesterday alive, and well today they're all gone.
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[22:57] Speaker 1: tones amongst themselves, wondering what could have led to the tragedy.
[23:03] Speaker 1: One neighbor, Anne said that people needed to get the
[23:05] Speaker 1: message across that every home, perhaps every room, should have
[23:08] Speaker 1: a working smoke detector and everything should be unplugged before bed.
[23:13] Speaker 1: She added, Lorraine and Arthur smoked, but they were careful
[23:18] Speaker 1: about the house and made sure the children could never
[23:20] Speaker 1: reach lighters or matches or anything. I just don't know
[23:24] Speaker 1: how far that bad could start. It's unbelievable, but it
[23:28] Speaker 1: wasn't as unbelievable as what the evidence would soon uncover.
[23:37] Speaker 1: At the mgel hill family's home, a thorough investigation began immediately.
[23:43] Speaker 1: It wasn't long before detectives discovered that an accelerant had
[23:47] Speaker 1: been used to fuel the inferno. A large quantity of
[23:51] Speaker 1: fuel had been poured throughout the home, suggesting that the
[23:55] Speaker 1: fire was no accident. The case quickly took a darker
[24:00] Speaker 1: as detectives announced that they were treating the fire as
[24:03] Speaker 1: a homicide and Arthur mac Elhill, the father, was the
[24:07] Speaker 1: lead suspect. One detective, speaking anonymously to the Associated Press,
[24:14] Speaker 1: bluntly said, we don't believe an intruder did this, while
[24:20] Speaker 1: other members of the investigative tame were more reserved in
[24:22] Speaker 1: their comments. This officer was clear in his suspicion the
[24:28] Speaker 1: home had been locked from the inside, strongly indicating that
[24:31] Speaker 1: the person who had poured the fuel and set the
[24:33] Speaker 1: fire with somebody who was present in the home that night.
[24:38] Speaker 1: This revelation shocked many, especially Arthur's former employer James Crammond,
[24:44] Speaker 1: who expressed disbelief at the notion. I would be totally
[24:49] Speaker 1: amazed if they suspected Arthur, Crammond said in the media.
[24:53] Speaker 1: That would totally amaze me, But I suppose they have
[24:56] Speaker 1: to look at all the angles. By the following day, however,
[25:01] Speaker 1: detectives seemed more open about their theory. A police source
[25:06] Speaker 1: pointed out Arthur's troubled past. He stated, I understand he
[25:13] Speaker 1: has a criminal record and suffered from mental health issues.
[25:17] Speaker 1: That doesn't mean he's responsible for the fire, but sadly,
[25:20] Speaker 1: in situations like this, everything has to be ruled out
[25:23] Speaker 1: before we can get answers. Arthur's history, including his prior
[25:28] Speaker 1: offenses and his battles with depression, had been known to police,
[25:33] Speaker 1: but it was some comments made in the early days
[25:35] Speaker 1: of the investigation that only deepened their suspicions. According to
[25:40] Speaker 1: a neighbor, shortly before the flames engulfed the home, Arthur
[25:44] Speaker 1: and Lorraine had been arguing outside. Other neighbors said it
[25:49] Speaker 1: was common knowledge that Arthur had a temper and was
[25:51] Speaker 1: on medication. One of them commented, he was a control freak.
[25:57] Speaker 1: If he was that troubled, why didn't he go off
[25:59] Speaker 1: and kill himself instead of taking those poor children with him.
[26:04] Speaker 1: Another said, you never knew what he'd be thinking, but
[26:08] Speaker 1: if you were to ask me to sum him up,
[26:10] Speaker 1: I'd say he was a control freak. The rumors deeply
[26:14] Speaker 1: upset Arthur's family, with his brother Cathle telling BBC Radio Ulster,
[26:20] Speaker 1: I'm fed up with what people think. I want to grave,
[26:23] Speaker 1: I want to have memories. I want to keep my
[26:26] Speaker 1: memories of him. I'm just disappointed at how such a
[26:29] Speaker 1: tragedy can be taken and made into something that is
[26:32] Speaker 1: beyond all words. While some neighbors had reported that Arthur
[26:38] Speaker 1: was trying to break the window, others said that his
[26:40] Speaker 1: behavior as the flames in gulf the home was strange.
[26:45] Speaker 1: According to Mark McGlynn, he had put a ladder to
[26:48] Speaker 1: the window and shouted at Arthur to climb on or
[26:51] Speaker 1: past one of the children out. He said that Arthur
[26:55] Speaker 1: just stood there. He recollected, he didn't spain when I
[27:01] Speaker 1: shouted and banged the ladders. He looked around for three
[27:03] Speaker 1: or four seconds, and then looked back into the room.
[27:08] Speaker 1: Arthur then disappeared into the flames, while detectives continued looking
[27:16] Speaker 1: at Arthur as a suspect in the murders of his family.
[27:20] Speaker 1: The bodies were finally removed from the home. It had
[27:24] Speaker 1: taken three days for them to be identified by specialist
[27:27] Speaker 1: body recovery teams who had worked among the horrors of
[27:30] Speaker 1: the Kosovo and the aftermath of Middle East suicide bombers.
[27:35] Speaker 1: Around five hundred people gathered outside the family home as
[27:39] Speaker 1: they were placed into two specially customized white mortuary vans.
[27:45] Speaker 1: The firefighters, police officers, forensic officers and Red Cross personnel
[27:50] Speaker 1: formed a guard of honor for the cortege. The children's
[27:55] Speaker 1: teachers also lined up to pay their respects, as well
[27:58] Speaker 1: as their schoolmates. Priestaunilly conducted a short ceremony and said
[28:04] Speaker 1: he wanted to thank the police in the Fire service
[28:07] Speaker 1: for their persistent and hard work. The remains of the
[28:11] Speaker 1: family were charged beyond recognition and dental records and DNA
[28:15] Speaker 1: checks were needed to identify them. They had all died
[28:19] Speaker 1: from carbon monoxide poisoning or smoke inhalation. It was also
[28:25] Speaker 1: discovered that Lorrain was twenty weeks pregnant. With the autopsies completed,
[28:32] Speaker 1: the families loved ones now had the daunting task of
[28:34] Speaker 1: preparing their funerals. It was announced that a requiem mass
[28:39] Speaker 1: was taking place for the victims on the first of December,
[28:43] Speaker 1: but afterwards Arthur would be buried alone, while the Rain
[28:46] Speaker 1: and the children would be buried together. That morning, the
[28:50] Speaker 1: slow cortege of four horses made its way along the
[28:53] Speaker 1: narrow confines of Church Street. They were followed by up
[28:57] Speaker 1: to seventy friends and family who halted outside the Church
[29:01] Speaker 1: of the Sacred Heart. Around thirty students from Sacred Heart
[29:05] Speaker 1: College lined the road where the cortege stopped. The coffins
[29:10] Speaker 1: were then carried into the church, all varying in size,
[29:13] Speaker 1: but the smallest one being the most poignant. Arthur and
[29:18] Speaker 1: the Rain were placed to the left and right, and
[29:20] Speaker 1: the five smaller coffins were placed in between them. The
[29:25] Speaker 1: church then slowly filled up with members of the community
[29:28] Speaker 1: and the service was presided over by Priest Donnelly. He
[29:33] Speaker 1: referred back to the Oma bombing. He said that the
[29:37] Speaker 1: community may have experience of tragedy, but could never become
[29:40] Speaker 1: accustomed to it. He stated, Omah unfortunately became known worldwide
[29:47] Speaker 1: as a place that had the misfortune of experiencing terrible
[29:50] Speaker 1: events in the past. It was the hope of everyone
[29:53] Speaker 1: that such days were over. This made the events of
[29:56] Speaker 1: November thirteenth all the more terrible. An entire family unit
[30:01] Speaker 1: in one instance is unimaginable. It's a devastation for the
[30:05] Speaker 1: families immediately connected. It's a loss so total that words
[30:09] Speaker 1: failed to describe the immensity of the events. Following the service,
[30:15] Speaker 1: both families carried the seven coffins from the church. Arthur's
[30:20] Speaker 1: was placed alone in one hearse and his family returned
[30:23] Speaker 1: with his body to his home village of Ederney. The
[30:27] Speaker 1: rest of the family were taken to County Cavan and
[30:30] Speaker 1: they were laid to rest in a single grave. The
[30:38] Speaker 1: day after the funerals, detectives admitted that Arthur was the
[30:40] Speaker 1: sole suspect in the murders. The investigation revealed that the
[30:45] Speaker 1: fire had been set at the bottom of the ground
[30:47] Speaker 1: floor stairs, trapping the family upstairs. It was also revealed
[30:52] Speaker 1: for the first time that Caroline had died with the
[30:55] Speaker 1: telephone in one hand and Roman Catholic prayer beads in
[30:58] Speaker 1: the other. She had grabbed the phone and called nine
[31:02] Speaker 1: ninety nine at four fifty four a m. Just minutes
[31:06] Speaker 1: before the blaze completely destroyed the family's home. Detective Chief
[31:12] Speaker 1: Superintendent Norman Baxter said that he intended on nominating her
[31:16] Speaker 1: for a posthumous award of courage because she had tried
[31:19] Speaker 1: to save her family. He stated, this was a young girl,
[31:25] Speaker 1: an emblem of innocence, with the courage to seek help
[31:28] Speaker 1: and turning to her faith in the midst of fear
[31:30] Speaker 1: and danger. Out of the burnt wreckage of this family home,
[31:35] Speaker 1: there will be many poignant reminders of what members of
[31:37] Speaker 1: the public, firefighters, scientists, and police encountered and seeking to
[31:42] Speaker 1: rescue members of the family, extinguish the flames, and subsequently
[31:47] Speaker 1: investigate an unimaginable crime. But this wasn't the first time
[31:52] Speaker 1: that Caroline had to confront her father's behavior head on.
[31:56] Speaker 1: When she was just ten years old, she saved him
[31:59] Speaker 1: after he tried to hang himself. She had found him
[32:02] Speaker 1: hanging in a garden shed and cut him down. By now,
[32:06] Speaker 1: details of Arthur's murky past had floated to the surface
[32:10] Speaker 1: and questions were raised about why Moore wasn't done to
[32:13] Speaker 1: protect his family from him. Others wondered why a registered
[32:18] Speaker 1: sex offender was allowed to live so close to his school.
[32:22] Speaker 1: Johnny McLaughlin, an independent member of Omah District Council, pressed
[32:26] Speaker 1: for a full public inquiry. He questioned, Arthur mcelhill had
[32:32] Speaker 1: convictions for sex offenses and we need to establish why
[32:35] Speaker 1: this man, whatever the risk, was not monitored more closely.
[32:40] Speaker 1: Were there any warnings and if there were, why were
[32:43] Speaker 1: they not heeded? SDLP Assembly member John Dollett also called
[32:47] Speaker 1: on Health Minister Michael mcgimsey to launch an investigation. He stated,
[32:53] Speaker 1: the Minister needs to consider a full scale inquiry into
[32:56] Speaker 1: social services, their resources. It is manned. What needs to
[33:01] Speaker 1: be done to ensure this doesn't happen again. There needs
[33:04] Speaker 1: to be a full scale inquiry into the standard and
[33:07] Speaker 1: level of social services throughout the North where this could
[33:10] Speaker 1: happen in other areas. Christmas came and when and early
[33:15] Speaker 1: the next year it was announced that an independent review
[33:17] Speaker 1: was being launched into the murders. They were going to
[33:21] Speaker 1: investigate the extent and nature of the involvement of the
[33:24] Speaker 1: family with a range of agencies, including general practitioner services,
[33:29] Speaker 1: the trust's social services, health visiting and mental health services,
[33:34] Speaker 1: education services, and others. They were also going to look
[33:38] Speaker 1: at the knowledge each organization had about Arthur's previous convictions
[33:43] Speaker 1: for sexual offenses and his involvement with other organizations. The
[33:49] Speaker 1: inquest findings were released in July and they found that
[33:53] Speaker 1: the welfare services were guilty of a series of feelings.
[33:58] Speaker 1: The team, which had been led by Henryier, QC, noted
[34:02] Speaker 1: that not all of the agencies were aware that Arthur
[34:04] Speaker 1: had twice been found guilty of indecently assaulting teenage girls.
[34:09] Speaker 1: They found that a failure to share this information undermined
[34:12] Speaker 1: the ability of welfare services to assess the potential risk
[34:16] Speaker 1: he posed to teenage girls. It was revealed that in
[34:20] Speaker 1: the lead up to the murders, a teenage girl who
[34:22] Speaker 1: was on the child protection register had been allowed to
[34:24] Speaker 1: sleep over at the family's home. She was Caroline's best
[34:30] Speaker 1: friend and had essentially been living at the family's home
[34:33] Speaker 1: on and off for three months. About a month before
[34:37] Speaker 1: the fire. She was removed from the home after Social
[34:40] Speaker 1: Services discovered that Arthur was on the sex offender's register
[34:44] Speaker 1: after police went to the home on an unrelated matter.
[34:49] Speaker 1: While living there, the teenage girl had her concerns about Arthur.
[34:53] Speaker 1: She said that Lorraine was often sporting a black eye.
[34:57] Speaker 1: She recalled I asked her where the bruises came from,
[35:00] Speaker 1: but she said they came from the door or the
[35:02] Speaker 1: kids snipping her. I actually think he hit her. The
[35:07] Speaker 1: Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, Patricia loosely said,
[35:11] Speaker 1: in regards to the teenage girl the fact a teenage
[35:15] Speaker 1: girl was staying with the sex offender and the investigation
[35:17] Speaker 1: at the time did not deal with the risk to
[35:19] Speaker 1: the other children. These risks were never properly dealt with.
[35:24] Speaker 1: Other chances were missed to protect the family, the most
[35:27] Speaker 1: recent of which was a month before the murders. Caroline
[35:31] Speaker 1: had called the police in floods of tears during an
[35:34] Speaker 1: argument between her mother and father. When police came to
[35:38] Speaker 1: the home, Lorraine said that she and Arthur had a disagreement.
[35:43] Speaker 1: She said that Arthur and the children were asleep and
[35:45] Speaker 1: police didn't bother to speak with them. The case was
[35:49] Speaker 1: placed on a waiting list but nothing ever came of it.
[35:53] Speaker 1: The review said that after these two incidents, social services
[35:56] Speaker 1: really should have become involved with the family, they didn't.
[36:02] Speaker 1: The investigation team examined the role of the Western Health
[36:05] Speaker 1: and Social Care Trust, the Police Service of Northern Ireland,
[36:09] Speaker 1: the Probation Service and Education Welfare Services. Although they highlighted
[36:15] Speaker 1: deficits in good practice and management within the relevant areas
[36:18] Speaker 1: of the Trust and in other agencies, they noted that
[36:22] Speaker 1: there was no indication nor warning of the events of
[36:25] Speaker 1: the night of November thirteenth, two thousand and seven. The
[36:29] Speaker 1: review made a total of sixty three recommendations, including PSNI
[36:34] Speaker 1: policies on child protection and domestic violence to be reinforced
[36:38] Speaker 1: and for the Force to ensure its sex offenders database
[36:41] Speaker 1: is checked when officers are called to family situations with
[36:45] Speaker 1: child protection issues. The board also advised the PSNI to
[36:50] Speaker 1: consider social services staff members as appropriate to each of
[36:55] Speaker 1: the eight PSNI public protection units in the North. The
[37:00] Speaker 1: greatest condemnation, however, was for the Western Health and Social
[37:04] Speaker 1: Care Trust and Board and how they shared information to
[37:07] Speaker 1: other departments. Essentially, when they knew that somebody was a
[37:11] Speaker 1: sex offender, they didn't bother to share this information with
[37:15] Speaker 1: other departments. Since the events surrounding the fire were still
[37:19] Speaker 1: subject to police inquiry, the review didn't touch on the
[37:23] Speaker 1: incident itself. After the findings, the police inquiry continued in
[37:29] Speaker 1: the fate of the family's home lay in Limbo. It
[37:33] Speaker 1: had been boarded up since the fire, but residents said
[37:36] Speaker 1: they wanted it demolished. It only served as a horrific
[37:40] Speaker 1: reminder of what had happened that cold winter morning. Community
[37:45] Speaker 1: activist Jerry mc cluster said residents wanted tossed. Any agency
[37:51] Speaker 1: I speak to is willing to sit down and look
[37:52] Speaker 1: at the options. Neighbors would have looked out for those
[37:56] Speaker 1: children who died, and they were at the center of
[37:58] Speaker 1: their community. We have lost lovely people here. By May
[38:08] Speaker 1: of two thousand and nine, the police inquiry was completed
[38:12] Speaker 1: and it was announced that there were going to be
[38:13] Speaker 1: no prosecutions over the murders, but the case was heard
[38:18] Speaker 1: before a coroner's court in October of that year to
[38:21] Speaker 1: try and establish more facts of the case. It was
[38:24] Speaker 1: going to be up to coroner Susanne Anderson to hear
[38:27] Speaker 1: the case and decide how the blaze started and how
[38:30] Speaker 1: the family died. During the hearing, the inquest heard the
[38:34] Speaker 1: harrowing nine ninety nine call that Caroline had made before
[38:37] Speaker 1: she died. She screamed help me, followed by and burning.
[38:43] Speaker 1: As she gasped for breath. Muffled screams for help could
[38:47] Speaker 1: be heard in the distance from other members of the family.
[38:52] Speaker 1: Caroline then spluttered out the partially coherent he's trying to
[38:57] Speaker 1: kick us. Venetic expert Professor Peter French was asked by
[39:02] Speaker 1: police to decipher the missing syllables after the letter K,
[39:06] Speaker 1: but he said that he couldn't do so. The phone
[39:10] Speaker 1: call lasted about six minutes, but Caroline only spoke to
[39:13] Speaker 1: the operator for the first forty five seconds. The remainder
[39:18] Speaker 1: of the call was marked by distant screams and cries
[39:21] Speaker 1: as the operator repeatedly tried to re establish contact. As
[39:27] Speaker 1: the call drew to an end, a series of gasping
[39:30] Speaker 1: noises were clearly audible. These were believed to be Caroline's
[39:35] Speaker 1: last breaths. The coroner had deemed the recording so upsetting
[39:40] Speaker 1: that she had asked relatives to listen to it in private.
[39:42] Speaker 1: Before the proceedings began, State pathologist doctor David Crane said
[39:49] Speaker 1: that all seven members of the family were alive when
[39:51] Speaker 1: the fire started, and all had either died from carbon
[39:55] Speaker 1: monoxide poisoning or smoke inhalation. Furthermore, he said that all
[40:00] Speaker 1: Arthur wasn't under the influence of alcohol at the time,
[40:03] Speaker 1: although he was a heavy drinker. All of the family
[40:07] Speaker 1: had sustained horrific burns, but it was believed that all
[40:10] Speaker 1: or most were caused after they had succumbed to the fumes.
[40:15] Speaker 1: The courtroom also heard from neighbors who had frantically tried
[40:18] Speaker 1: to save the family. Mark mclenn recalled how he had
[40:22] Speaker 1: put ladders up to the window where he saw Arthur.
[40:26] Speaker 1: He urged him to climb down or pass somebody out.
[40:30] Speaker 1: He testified, he stared at me for three or four
[40:33] Speaker 1: seconds with no response, then he turned back in. When
[40:39] Speaker 1: he was asked whether it was possible for Arthur to
[40:41] Speaker 1: get out of the window, he replied, I'm sure he
[40:44] Speaker 1: could have got out. His brother, John said it appeared
[40:48] Speaker 1: that Arthur had walked away from safety, telling the court
[40:52] Speaker 1: he moved away from the window towards the fire. A
[40:56] Speaker 1: lawyer for Arthur's family, Shawn Dockerty, questioned his wreqad collection
[41:00] Speaker 1: of the fire and mentioned that John didn't say Arthur
[41:03] Speaker 1: had walked away. In his original police statement, Stephen Mullen,
[41:08] Speaker 1: who was at the scene before Mark and John, said
[41:11] Speaker 1: that he heard Arthur and the rain screaming for help.
[41:15] Speaker 1: He further said that Arthur had been trying to smash
[41:17] Speaker 1: the bedroom window to escape. He testified he was holding
[41:22] Speaker 1: his face with his hand and was thumping the glass
[41:25] Speaker 1: with his fist. Two forensic experts, Andrew Wade and Dennis Macauley,
[41:31] Speaker 1: agreed that an accelerant had been poured in the hallway
[41:34] Speaker 1: and then lit from within. We had testified the pattern
[41:39] Speaker 1: damage is indicative of a flammable liquid being ignited in
[41:42] Speaker 1: the hallway. It was carried out by an occupant of
[41:45] Speaker 1: the property. They both said it was impossible that it
[41:49] Speaker 1: was poured into the home through the letter box or
[41:52] Speaker 1: that it had spread from the front door. The testimony
[41:55] Speaker 1: then turned to Arthur's frame of mind at the time
[41:58] Speaker 1: of the murders. Doctor Michelle Milette said that nine weeks
[42:02] Speaker 1: before the fire, she had prescribed him antidepressants. She said
[42:08] Speaker 1: to the coroner he was really down and depressed. Arthur
[42:12] Speaker 1: had told her that he was having issues with his
[42:14] Speaker 1: weight and was upset about the division of housework. He
[42:19] Speaker 1: also said that Lorraine was always shouting at the children
[42:21] Speaker 1: without reason. Despite this, she said she didn't believe that
[42:26] Speaker 1: he was suicidal or homicidal. She said that she bumped
[42:30] Speaker 1: into him on the strait a week later and he
[42:32] Speaker 1: appeared to be in good form. The doctor had booked
[42:36] Speaker 1: Arthur a follow up appointment after a month, but he
[42:39] Speaker 1: never turned up. Another appointment was made for him for
[42:42] Speaker 1: the fifth of October, but once more he failed to
[42:45] Speaker 1: show up. It was revealed during the inquest that Arthur
[42:49] Speaker 1: had been grooming two teenage girls in the lead up
[42:51] Speaker 1: to the murders. He was sexually abusing one of the
[42:56] Speaker 1: girls in the month before the fire, and was sending
[42:58] Speaker 1: the other one text master and calls pleading with her
[43:02] Speaker 1: to have sex with him. Detective Chief Inspector Derek Scott
[43:07] Speaker 1: testified the two days before the fire, Arthur had exchanged
[43:10] Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty four text messages and one hundred
[43:13] Speaker 1: and thirty calls with these two girls. The girl whom
[43:18] Speaker 1: he had sexually abused old detectives that it had happened
[43:21] Speaker 1: on at least ten occasions. The day before the fire.
[43:25] Speaker 1: He was on the phone to this girl for over
[43:27] Speaker 1: two and a half hours, but that wasn't all. Arthur
[43:32] Speaker 1: had also set up a profile on the social networking
[43:35] Speaker 1: platform Babo, but he was posing as his seven year
[43:38] Speaker 1: old son Sean. He claimed that he was thirteen years
[43:43] Speaker 1: old and had struck up conversations with various young girls
[43:47] Speaker 1: in the community. The teenage girl who had been abused
[43:51] Speaker 1: by Arthur was the teenage girl who had been living
[43:53] Speaker 1: at the home. She bravely testified and said that Arthur
[43:58] Speaker 1: had sexually abused her in the bedroom upstairs while the
[44:01] Speaker 1: rain and the children were downstairs. Giving evidence from behind
[44:06] Speaker 1: the screen, she said that Arthur had first lured her
[44:09] Speaker 1: to an upstairs bedroom to have a look at his computer.
[44:14] Speaker 1: She said that he tried to kiss her, but a
[44:16] Speaker 1: month later he used the same ruse and sexually assaulted her.
[44:20] Speaker 1: She testified he locked the bedroom door from inside with
[44:24] Speaker 1: a quay and then pulled the curtains. Arthur then had
[44:27] Speaker 1: sexual intercourse with me on the bed. This happened another
[44:32] Speaker 1: nine times. The teenage girl had been failed by Child
[44:36] Speaker 1: Protective Services, who had allowed her to live in a
[44:39] Speaker 1: home with the sexual predator, who was on the sex
[44:42] Speaker 1: offenders list. It was revealed during the inquest as well
[44:46] Speaker 1: that detectives believed that Lorrain had threatened to leave Arthur
[44:50] Speaker 1: the night of the fire. When they got at home
[44:53] Speaker 1: was searched, they had found a bag packed with five
[44:56] Speaker 1: fill bottles of baby milk. Two neighbors, Leanne Duffy and
[45:01] Speaker 1: Gary Taggart, testified that they heard an argument shortly before
[45:04] Speaker 1: the fire. Leanne said it was some time after four
[45:08] Speaker 1: a m. When she heard a man shouting, you can't run,
[45:12] Speaker 1: you fat bitch. She looked out of the window and
[45:15] Speaker 1: saw a man she was ninety eight percent sure was
[45:17] Speaker 1: Arthur getting something from the car. Less than five minutes later,
[45:23] Speaker 1: the blaze erupted. Ultimately, the coroner rolled that Arthur mcgelhill
[45:33] Speaker 1: had killed himself and his family after Lorrain threatened to
[45:37] Speaker 1: leave him. She said to the courtroom, I am satisfied
[45:42] Speaker 1: on the balance of probabilities that Arthur mcelhill and the
[45:45] Speaker 1: Rain McGovern had been up all night, and that she
[45:48] Speaker 1: was about to leave, taking with her at least some
[45:51] Speaker 1: of their children, when the fire was started by Arthur mcelhill. However,
[45:56] Speaker 1: she said that she couldn't prove conclusively that Arthur had
[45:59] Speaker 1: intended on killing himself, as well, noting that he'd broken
[46:03] Speaker 1: an upstairs window outside of court. Arthur's parents, Charles and Patricia,
[46:09] Speaker 1: provided a statement. They said, as parents, we have always
[46:15] Speaker 1: tried our best for our children. The duty of any
[46:18] Speaker 1: parent is to teach their children the differences between right
[46:21] Speaker 1: and wrong. Arthur was no different in that he was
[46:24] Speaker 1: brought up to respect the same values as our eight
[46:27] Speaker 1: other children. The events of two years ago have devastated
[46:31] Speaker 1: and shattered our lives beyond belief. Our pain is immeasurable
[46:36] Speaker 1: and it will endure for the rest of our lives.
[46:39] Speaker 1: We love and miss Arthur, Lorraine and our grandchildren every day.
[46:43] Speaker 1: We will always remember them as a happy family. We
[46:46] Speaker 1: want to thank the emergency services and those who rendered
[46:49] Speaker 1: assistance on the night of the thirteenth of November two
[46:51] Speaker 1: thousand and seven. Lorraine's family also provided a statement which read,
[46:58] Speaker 1: we the McGovern family life like to thank the people
[47:01] Speaker 1: of Umahkurlow and the surrounding areas for their help, comfort
[47:05] Speaker 1: and support given to us over the past two years.
[47:09] Speaker 1: We'd like to thank all the emergency services who were involved,
[47:12] Speaker 1: the police, and especially the brave firefighters who attended the
[47:15] Speaker 1: scene of the fire. We are mindful that the mcelhill
[47:19] Speaker 1: family have also suffered greatly and we extend to them
[47:22] Speaker 1: our sincere sympathy. In February two thousand and eleven, it
[47:31] Speaker 1: was announced that the family's home in Lemmi Crescent was
[47:34] Speaker 1: going to be demolished. There were some ideas for a memorial,
[47:39] Speaker 1: but the community rejected it, Shinvean councilor Sean Begley said
[47:45] Speaker 1: soon after the tragedy, local residents said they wanted the
[47:48] Speaker 1: house demolished, so since then there have been meetings with
[47:51] Speaker 1: the executive about buying the house from the owner. There
[47:55] Speaker 1: were difficulties, but it's happened and it will be demolished
[47:58] Speaker 1: in the next two to three weeks. The home was
[48:02] Speaker 1: knocked down on the sixteenth of March. As the walls collapsed,
[48:08] Speaker 1: so did the last physical traces of the family's presence.
[48:13] Speaker 1: The land where the family home had once stood now
[48:16] Speaker 1: stands empty, serving as a reminder of the future never lived,
[48:21] Speaker 1: of a family torn apart, and of the dreams that
[48:24] Speaker 1: died with them. Well, Bestie's that is it for this
[48:49] Speaker 1: episode of Morbidology. As always, thank you so much for listening,
[48:53] Speaker 1: and I'd like to say a massive thank you to
[48:55] Speaker 1: my new supporter up on Patreon. Lady Kay join up
[49:00] Speaker 1: on Patreon. I upload ad free and early release episodes
[49:03] Speaker 1: pon us episodes of Morbidology plus behind the Scenes, and
[49:07] Speaker 1: I also send out a handwritten thank you card along
[49:09] Speaker 1: with some cool merch. Pedroon really is a great way
[49:14] Speaker 1: to support independent shows, and I genuinely do appreciate all
[49:18] Speaker 1: of your support. If you'd like to support more Biology
[49:21] Speaker 1: in another way, please consider leaving me a rating and
[49:24] Speaker 1: review on Apple Podcasts. As I've mentioned before, Morbidology is
[49:28] Speaker 1: now up on YouTube and we also have a private
[49:31] Speaker 1: Facebook group, so if you guys would like to subscribe
[49:34] Speaker 1: and join, please feel free to do so. Remember to
[49:39] Speaker 1: check us out at morebidology dot com for more information
[49:41] Speaker 1: about this episode and to read some true Grim articles.
[49:45] Speaker 1: Until next time, take care of yourselves, stay safe, and
[49:47] Speaker 1: have an amazing week.

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