A 50-year-old man has been jailed for life after being found guilty of murdering a DJ nicknamed Mr. Moonlight in what's become known as the "love-triangle" trial.
A jury has agreed that Patrick Quirke dumped Bobby Ryan's body in an underground tank on his ex-lover’s farm.
After just over twenty and a half hours across seven days of deliberations, Patrick Quirke from Breanshamore, Co. Tipperary was found guilty of murder by a majority verdict.
The prosecution’s case was that the 50-year-old married father of three killed Bobby Ryan in an attempt to rekindle an affair he had previously with Bobby’s girlfriend Mary Lowry – on whose farm he hid the body in an underground run-off tank.
Quirke staged the discovery of his remains in April 2013 - almost two years after he went missing.
In her Victim Impact Statement, Bobby’s daughter Michelle addressed her father directly. She said:
“Dad – I described you as WOW and that’s what you are, such a wonderful and caring father and we’ll carry you in our hearts everyday for the rest of our lives until we meet again Moonlight.
Quirke was then handed the mandatory life sentence for murder.
