Stolen Sister: 01 - Elizabeth

·28 min·1 clip

Bernie and Kathleen say they're in a battle for Elizabeth after trying the DPP, the Garda Commissioner, and the State Solicitor's Office.

1. Documentary on One Podcast’s “Stolen Sister: 01 - Elizabeth” follows Bernie and Kathleen Plunkett as they try to reopen the case of Elizabeth Plunkett. 2. Ros Purcell narrates, and the episode features Bernie and Kathleen, their relative closeness, and producers Nicolene and Liam as part of the programme’s voice. 3. The episode exists to explain why the sisters are contacting RTÉ and what they believe happened after Elizabeth’s murder. 4. Elizabeth Plunkett grew up in Pembroke Cottages in Ringsend, a tight-knit Dublin neighbourhood on the banks of the Liffey. 5. The Plunkett family had ten children, with eight siblings sharing a small cottage, and Elizabeth was a middle child in a busy household. 6. Her sisters and brothers describe her as bossy, confident, athletic, and the one who would challenge her father about dishes and “prerogative.” 7. Elizabeth worked at Thomas Delarue, the factory that printed foreign currency, and she became close friends with Mela Bush. 8. Mela Bush’s brother Damien later became Elizabeth’s boyfriend, and the family remembers him arriving at the house in a Capri car with Abba tapes playing. 9. Elizabeth enjoyed travel, camping, hiking, An Áige, the Rangers, Bulgaria, Spain, and a July 1976 trip to Saint-Tropez with Damien and Mela. 10. The episode contrasts that ordinary life with John Shaw and Geoffrey Evans, whom the sisters call J.S. and G.E. and describe as Ireland’s first serial killers. 11. Shaw and Evans had multiple convictions for burglary, murder, assault, possession of heroin, and attempted rape before coming to Ireland in the mid-1970s. 12. The narration says they were released from prison in Dublin in August 1976 after extradition proceedings from the UK stalled when Shaw disputed his identity. 13. The episode places the summer in context by noting that 1976 was one of the hottest summers on record in Ireland. 14. On Saturday 28 August 1976, Elizabeth planned a night in British Bay with Damien, Mela, and friends to mark the end of the summer. 15. Statements read aloud from Damien and Joe McCoy describe drinks at Sacks Hotel, arrival at McDaniel’s, and the group settling in among a crowded pub. 16. The episode also reads Shaw and Evans’s account of driving around Wicklow, stopping at a pub, and looking for women in the area. 17. A separate woman is described as escaping when Shaw and Evans stopped her for a lift on the road near British Bay. 18. Elizabeth leaves McDaniel’s after an argument with Damien and walks away alone into the dark night, ending the episode on the edge of the next event. 19. The tone is documentary and reflective, using family testimony, archive material, and actor readings to move between Ringsend, Dublin, and Wicklow. 20. Listeners who like Irish true-crime history and family testimony will follow this closely, while people avoiding accounts of sexual violence may skip it.

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