A 44-year-old Sligo man has been found not guilty of the murder of 14-year-old Melissa Mahon but guilty of her manslaughter in September 2006.
The verdict on Ronald McManus was delivered in the Central Criminal Court this afternoon after the jury was sent home last night for a second night having failed to reach a verdict. The jury of six men and six women also found McManus not guilty of threatening to kill his daughter.
McManus, also known as Ronnie Dunbar, of Rathbraughan Park, Sligo, pleaded not guilty to murdering Melissa and also denied threatening to kill one of his daughters, Samantha Conroy.
Mr Justice White exempted the jury from further service for life and described this case as “distasteful, sordid and squalid”. McManus will be sentenced on July 6th.
Melissa Mahon's family showed no reaction as the verdict was read out and left the court without speaking to the media.
Melissa went missing from the care of the Health Service Executive on September 14th, 2006. Her skeletal remains were found by gardaí on the shore of Lough Gill in February 2008 after the accused man’s daughter spoke to gardaí.
Two daughters told the court that in September 2006 they saw their father on a bed with Melissa with his arm around her neck before he tied her into a sleeping bag and dumped her body in the River Bonet.
A year-and-a-half later Samantha Conroy told her older sister Shirley what had happened to Melissa, and Shirley’s boyfriend contacted gardaí. In February 2008 Samantha led police to the spot where Melissa was dumped. Her skeletal remains were then found along the shore of Lough Gill.
Samantha Conroy, now aged 18, told the court via video link that McManus got his daughters to help throw the body into the water and then he threw stones at it until it sank.
She said he then brought her and her sister to his regular football practice. She said he told them they were accessories to murder and threatened to do the same thing to them if they told anyone.
Melissa had run away from the care of the Health Service Executive on the morning of September 14th, 2006. She had run away from her family home in early August 2006 and had spent a number of weeks hiding in the Dunbar house before going into care.
In 2005 she had become friendly at school with Dunbar’s daughters and had become close to Ronnie Dunbar. The court heard that he had his daughters with him at all times and would often take them and Melissa for regular spins in his car.
Although Melissa was in the Dunbar house in August 2006, he told social workers and gardaí that he did not know where she was, the court heard. He told his then girlfriend, Angelique Sheridan, that Melissa had been abused by her own family and that he was protecting her.
The court also heard that Melissa had taken a pregnancy test in the presence of two friends, who told the court that the test was positive and that Melissa was delighted.
On September 7th, 2006, social workers involved with Melissa had become increasingly concerned by her relationship with Dunbar and sought an order from Sligo District Court under the Child Care Act prohibiting contact between Melissa and Dunbar without the prior consent of the HSE.
The Central Criminal Court heard that Melissa was “quietly upset” by the court order which did little to resolve the situation. On September 13th, 2006, following another incident in which Melissa had gone missing from the care home, she was taken to a foster family outside of Sligo.
The jury also heard bizarre evidence about Dunbar’s beliefs from two former girlfriends of the accused. One woman, who had briefly been engaged to Dunbar in late 2007, said Dunbar believed that a new world was coming and that he would be a king leading troops on a battlefield. She said he would only take those with him that he could trust and kept fit at the gym in order t o be ready.
Ms Sheridan told the court that Melissa Mahon told her that she was the reincarnation of Cleopatra and had been married to Dunbar in a former life. The child told Ms Sheridan that she would be with Dunbar in the new world.