Parents Found Dead In Fire 'Were Shot'

darkman2

Parents Found Dead In Fire 'Were Shot'
Updated:23:50, Saturday April 26, 2008

Two parents found dead along with their children after a house fire in Ireland had suffered gunshot wounds, Sky sources have revealed.

Mr and Mrs FloodThe bodies of a couple and a boy and a girl were discovered after the blaze broke out in their home in County Wexford, south east Ireland.

Sky News Ireland correspondent Ray Kennedy said both adults had been shot but it was not clear whether that was the cause of death.

He added that the tragedy was initially thought to be a straight-forward fire but "there appears to be a sinister twist to this tale now".

There was no sign of a break-in and a legally held shotgun was found in the charred shell of their home.

Dermot Flood, 41, was found dead in a downstairs living room where the blaze began, while his 38-year-old wife Lorraine died in the burnt-out upstairs bedroom.

The body of their five-year-old daughter Julie was discovered in her bedroom while son Mark, six, perished on the landing.

Three brave neighbours in the village of Clonroche had broken windows in an attempted rescue, as they waited for firefighters, but flames, heat and smoke forced them back.


Victims Mark and JulieWhile not confirming the bullet wounds, a garda spokesman said: "There are other injuries on the bodies of Dermot and Lorraine.

"As to what those other injuries are, we just cannot determine at this stage and it will be the post-mortems which will determine that."

There were no obvious traces of petrol or other flammable accelerants which may have been used to start the devastating blaze.

For the past few years, Dermot had been running his father's business, Sean Flood Water Filtration, and was well known across Wexford.

Mrs Flood had worked for an insurance company in the nearby port town of New Ross before becoming an aerobics instructor and running keep-fit classes in the local parish hall.

The mother-of-two was a cousin of Reading and Ireland international footballer Kevin Doyle.

Brendan Howlin, Labour Party TD for Wexford, said the small community of Clonroche was devastated by the tragedy.

He said: "People in the village are reeling from this dreadful incident and it will take a long time for them to come to terms with it."


Sky news

Tragic, disgusting, sick are the terms that come to mind. IMO its time to get tough against criminals in general and for the guards and judges to take their heads out of their arse. They are all out of touch. A tough criminal response to all crime is very needed in this country. In fact some wont like what we must do at this stage.:mad:

AARRRGH

WTF is happening to this country.

10 years ago a single murder was big news. Now we have murders every day.

What's going on??

Rowley Birkin QC

I don't think they are going to be looking for anyone else in connection to this.

ThE_IVIAcIVIAIV

up with the criminal sentences for gods sake! its like 8 years for manslaughter now? it should be minimum 20!!! and rape is like 4 years? come on! 12 years min!

AARRRGH

ThE_IVIAcIVIAIV wrote: »

up with the criminal sentences for gods sake! its like 8 years for manslaughter now? it should be minimum 20!!! and rape is like 4 years? come on! 12 years min!

I agree. We need to get really harsh on crime in this country.

We should introduce a three strikes law. (Go to jail three times and you automatically get a life sentence.)

Too many scumbags taking the piss.

Rb

dublindude wrote: »

WTF is happening to this country.

10 years ago a single murder was big news. Now we have murders every day.

What's going on??

Yeah, it's quite sad to see it happening alright. It's obvious that Ireland's become a much more violent place, and I'd love to know what the cause of it is.

Tragic story alright, given that there was a shotgun in the house it sounds like it could have been a murder/suicide, dunno why he/she didn't shoot the kids though if that's the case.

ThE_IVIAcIVIAIV

its getting like Italy, with Mafias running the place. Criminal gangs paying off Garda or Threatening their families! theres so much stuff that goes un reported! and witness's retracting their statements etc. Time to get Tough ! NOW

Rb

dublindude wrote: »

I agree. We need to get really harsh on crime in this country.

We should introduce a three strikes law. (Go to jail three times and you automatically get a life sentence.)

Too many scumbags taking the piss.

I'd love to see tougher sentencing in this country, why it isn't happening, God only knows but it's quite clear that the lenient sentences certainly aren't deterring serious criminals.

Tbh, I'd be in favour of just bringing back the death penalty and getting rid of the scum, keeps our jails from getting too packed and ends the existences of those who just aren't going to sort themselves out.

ThE_IVIAcIVIAIV

bigkev49 wrote: »

I don't think they are going to be looking for anyone else in connection to this.

i agree , i can't see much evidence left after a fire! must of been someone they knew. hmm. its not drugs, its a wealthy family... maybe the lad fired someone and they want on a rampage?

darkman2

rb_ie wrote: »

Yeah, it's quite sad to see it happening alright. It's obvious that Ireland's become a much more violent place, and I'd love to know what the cause of it is.

Tragic story alright, given that there was a shotgun in the house it sounds like it could have been a suicide,

TBH, considering what we all know about criminal thugs in this country I wouldnt be so sure.

AARRRGH

I hate scumbags, but I don't think anyone should be killed, so I wouldn't be a supporter of the death penalty.

I would 100% support a politician though who wanted to get really tough on crime. I have no sympathy for repeat offenders or violent criminals. Take them out of society...

ThE_IVIAcIVIAIV

Break the Law 3 times and you get sent to Afganistan to do some ''community service '' for the taliban but they are actually going to be caged and raped by horses.

Rb

dublindude wrote: »

I hate scumbags, but I don't think anyone should be killed, so I wouldn't be a supporter of the death penalty.

I would 100% support a politician though who wanted to get really tough on crime. I have no sympathy for repeat offenders or violent criminals. Take them out of society...

I'd consider running for election sometime in the future as I've numerous ideas that'd clean up society ranging from alcohol licences to the sterilisation of anyone found guilty of violent and organised crime.
Breeding licences is another one which I think would cut down on people such as that 21 year old skanger who's had 5 kids who'll inevitably end up going down the wrong road in life thanks to be brought up by such a person.
Dunno how a lot of the ideas would go down with the general public though as I've found a lot are overly sympathetic to criminals "ah sure he had an awful poor upbringing etc etc", would love to be minister for justice though.

Lockstep

Obviously it was a black, Arabic, Roma homosexual Islamic traveller who signs on in several places each week and makes a mockery of the Irish taxpayer.

darkman2

kickoutthejams wrote: »

Obviously it was a black, Arabic, Roma homosexual Islamic traveller who signs on in several places each week and makes a mockery of the Irish taxpayer.

Yeah, tbh not a topic to be making jokes about no matter how light hearted your attempt. This family was wiped out either through murder or suicide/murder. I dont see much funny about that nor much funny about your comment regards that.

Rb

darkman2 wrote: »

Yeah, tbh not a topic to be making jokes about no matter how light hearted your attempt. This family was wiped out either through murder or suicide/murder.

+1

Bad form KOTJ

board om

i would be more inclined to think it was a murder/suicide so they probably wont be looking for anyone else for it. obviously one of the parents killed the rest of the family and then themselves. thats what all the evidence points towards anyway.

probably makes it all the more tragic. who could do that to their own family?

mdebets

dublindude wrote: »

I agree. We need to get really harsh on crime in this country.

We should introduce a three strikes law. (Go to jail three times and you automatically get a life sentence.)

And countries, which do this (e.g. US), have a very low crime rate.

oh wait, they actually don't.

Wibbs

board om wrote: »

i would be more inclined to think it was a murder/suicide so they probably wont be looking for anyone else for it. obviously one of the parents killed the rest of the family and then themselves. thats what all the evidence points towards anyway.

probably makes it all the more tragic. who could do that to their own family?

something doesnt add up though. Hypothetical stuff here, father/mother goes batshít we'll say, shoots the spouse, sets fire to the house, then shoots themselves, fire spreads and the kids follow their parents. That just sounds weird. Is it just me? You would think the kids would have gone the same way as the spouse.

MarkR

If reasoned debate was wanted it shouldn't have been posted in AH! According to Sky News a legally held shotgun was found on the premises and no sign of a break in. I nearly hope that someone else did kill them, so there's a chance that someone can be held responsible.

wil

Welcome to AH, home of the kneejerk reaction and inappropriate ill-informed comment.

Obviously not confirmed yet at this early stage but all the signs (even in the OP post) point to domestic murder suicide.

Not entirely sure how tougher criminal penalties deter suicidal people. Perhaps looking at our health system and mental health welfare would be more appropriate.

Lockstep

darkman2 wrote: »

Yeah, tbh not a topic to be making jokes about no matter how light hearted your attempt. This family was wiped out either through murder or suicide/murder. I dont see much funny about that nor much funny about your comment regards that.

If a serious debate was needed, it would be better off going to a more serious section. You posted it in AH.

Every time someone makes a quip on a news item there's nearly always someone who says something along the lines "It's not a laughing matter".

Are you claiming that mocking any tragedy is forbidden? Can we not be flippant about, say, 9/11, or rape, or murder? Are all of those things in the realm of “NO JOKES ALLOWED”? Making a joke about something is not an endorsement or a belittlement of the it.

Really, if it's not a laughing matter then the same rule would have to be applied to everything, either humour is acceptable in all cases or it isn't.

If you don;t find it funny, meh your call.

But deciding what material is allowed to be used as humour is just silly.


At any rate, it wasn;t meant to be humour as much as sarcasm with the kind of people I hear in the local shops saying it must have been a traveller/gypsy etc.

Also the fact people here supporting 3strikes and your out (c'mon, in the US it still applies to parking tickets or library fines) and the death penality.
WTF?

Sherifu

AH - serious business.

AARRRGH

mdebets wrote: »

And countries, which do this (e.g. US), have a very low crime rate.

oh wait, they actually don't.

Ireland and the US are different.

The US has a huge amount of uneducated, living below the poverty line scumbags who have easy access to cheap guns and ammo.

We're getting close though.

Taking the scum out of society can only prevent crimes.

(Note I do believe in tackling the root cause as well.)

Rb

KOTJ don't be silly.

I don't think anyone was making jokes about 9/11 a day or two after it happened, nor do I think people would be making jokes about someone being raped a few days after it happened. Making jokes about a family that have just been slaughtered, especially when it's so close to home and a relative or friend could easily be reading it is purely bad form and I don't think you should come out with such a silly argument in defence of it.

Wibbs wrote:

something doesnt add up though. Hypothetical stuff here, father/mother goes batshít we'll say, shoots the spouse, sets fire to the house, then shoots themselves, fire spreads and the kids follow their parents. That just sounds weird. Is it just me? You would think the kids would have gone the same way as the spouse.

Yeah I was thinking that myself, it *seems* like it could have been a murder/suicide but a lot of it doesn't really add up, particularly because the Gardaí have said it doesn't seem like anything was typical accelerator was used to start the fire.

Latchy

If it was a double suicide/murder tragedy ,you have to ask yourself what posesses and drives a sucsessful buisnessman to kill his lovey wife and children , then himself .

Lockstep

rb_ie wrote: »

KOTJ don't be silly.

I don't think anyone was making jokes about 9/11 a day or two after it happened, nor do I think people would be making jokes about someone being raped a few days after it happened.

Are you being serious? I was hearing jokes about the death of that swiss student in Galway the day it hit the news and jokes about the London tube bombings the morning afterwards. I went over to Ireland from England in the aftermath of the London tube bombings and still heard jokes about them.

rb_ie wrote: »

Making jokes about a family that have just been slaughtered, especially when it's so close to home and a relative or friend could easily be reading it is purely bad form and I don't think you should come out with such a silly argument in defence of it.

Ok.................... so we must all be nice about everything in the off chance someone might be offended by it or be related to the victim? Sorry mate but bad things happen in this world and someone will be offended by anything.
Censorship sucks.

You sure it's me who is making the silly argument?

Rb

latchyco wrote: »

If it was a double suicide/murder tragedy ,you have to ask yourself what posesses and drives a sucsessful buisnessman to kill his lovey wife and children , then himself .

Severe depression, insanity etc etc.


Just because he'd done well for himself doesn't necessarily mean he's happy.

thelordofcheese

I don't think anyone was making jokes about 9/11 a day or two after it happened

Yes they were. And i think it took about half an hour for the first jokes to start circulating after the london bombings in 2005.

Anyway i laughed at KOTJ's post, it was pretty funny.

Rb

kickoutthejams wrote: »

Ok.................... so we must all be nice about everything in the off chance someone might be offended by it or be related to the victim? Sorry mate but bad things happen in this world and someone will be offended by anything.
Censorship sucks.

You sure it's me who is making the silly argument?

No, we don't have to be nice about everything but there's a concept you might know of as "too soon", then again, maybe you don't know about it seeing as you'll happily make fun of a family who've just been wiped out.

There's nothing remotely funny about such a horrific act of violence.

Sherifu

kickoutthejams wrote: »

Are you being serious? I was hearing jokes about the death of that swiss student in Galway the day it hit the news and jokes about the London tube bombings the morning afterwards. I went over to Ireland from England in the aftermath of the London tube bombings and still heard jokes about them.

I can't imagine who would be making jokes about that poor Swiss girl tbh.

Who decides what's too soon anyway.

Lockstep

rb_ie wrote: »

No, we don't have to be nice about everything but there's a concept you might know of as "too soon", then again, maybe you don't know about it seeing as you'll happily make fun of a family who've just been wiped out.

There's nothing remotely funny about such a horrific act of violence.

Did you even bother reading my post in full?

Mine was meant as sarcasm against the people who claim travellers are behind everything. Just go back up a few spaces and read it please.


Ah yeah too soon. So now there's rules to what can be deemed good and acceptable humour. Let's all go and drink cranberry juice (NO! LOOKS LIKE BLOOD).... milk....soy milk so no vegans are offended.... and then we can sit around on chairs that are made so as not to insult anyone and then we can bend over backwards to tell jokes which offend noone.

Ah yeah. Sounds like quite a world.

Sherifu wrote: »

I can't imagine who would be making jokes about that poor Swiss girl tbh.

Who decides what's too soon anyway.

That post was made a few months after it happened, which must be what RB_ie would deem acceptable, he's the authority here. Although maybe it's because noone could possibly be offended by Manuelo Riedo as her family lives in Switzerland.

Latchy

rb_ie wrote: »

Severe depression, insanity etc etc.


Just because he'd done well for himself doesn't necessarily mean he's happy.

There was also if i remember similar cases in wales last year and more recently in Northern ireland .Also the guy last week in england who killed his young son and then hung himself when told he would be denied future access to seeing him .A selfish bastard imo

Rb

Ok cool, please do post anything bad that happens your family (mother/father dying, mother getting sexually assaulted etc etc) the day it happens so we can all sit back and laugh about it on here. That'd be great. Kthnx.

Lockstep

rb_ie wrote: »

Ok cool, please do post anything bad that happens your family (mother/father dying, mother getting sexually assaulted etc etc) the day it happens so we can all sit back and laugh about it on here. That'd be great. Kthnx.

I'd be more than happy to post about some of my family's problems.

Although it'd be extremely hard to do without coming across as attention seeking.

A member of my family who I loved very dearly died recently. After finding out,, about 20 minutes later I made a joke about it to some friends of mine.
Believe it or not, everything is a target of humour.
and believe it or not, everyone will be offended by some form of humour.

You hypocrite.

Sherifu

kickoutthejams wrote: »

That post was made a few months after it happened, which must be what RB_ie would deem acceptable, he's the authority here. Although maybe it's because noone could possibly be offended by Manuelo Riedo as her family lives in Switzerland.

If you read down further on that thread you'll find people still thought it was too soon, so...

Nevyn

The kids would have died from smoke inhalation and died and the tox screens are back yet so the kids could have been 'put to sleep' with a cough bottle.

This is starting to become more and more common people nto coping and with out a suport network so the twisted thinking is to take those they care about with them rahter then leave them behind to suffer.

Rb

latchyco wrote: »

There was also if i remember similar cases in wales last year and more recently in Northern ireland .Also the guy last week in england who killed his young son and then hung himself when told he would be denied future access to seeing him .A selfish bastard imo

Not to forget that wrestler who wiped out his own family too.

It's a sick crime, but the people who do it obviously aren't mentally stable. As Wibbs pointed out, though it sounds like it could have been a murder/suicide at the moment, there's an awful lot that just doesn't fit together properly. It'll be an interesting one to follow anyway.

Lockstep

Sherifu wrote: »

If you read down further on that thread you'll find people still thought it was too soon, so...

ah yeah, we just need to dictate to ourselves whatever follows rb_ie's sense of what constitutes good taste.

Then everything will be fine.

Rb

You should take it to feedback KOTJ, tbh.

Agamemnon

mdebets wrote: »

And countries, which do this (e.g. US), have a very low crime rate.

oh wait, they actually don't.

I think you'll find there's a very low crime rate among those who are in prison for life.

Lockstep

rb_ie wrote: »

You should take it to feedback KOTJ, tbh.

Take what to feedback?

The fact you get off pontificate while pulling the same bad taste humour stuff?


Doesn't it get lonely up there on your high horse?

Latchy

rb_ie wrote: »

Not to forget that wrestler who wiped out his own family too.

I think his choice of drug/steroid use would have altered his mental state .

It's a sick crime, but the people who do it obviously aren't mentally stable. As Wibbs pointed out, though it sounds like it could have been a murder/suicide at the moment, there's an awful lot that just doesn't fit together properly. It'll be an interesting one to follow anyway.

Yeah, i am sure a range of issues will surfice sooner or later

Rb

kickoutthejams wrote: »

Doesn't it get lonely up there on your high horse?

Why would it when I've got yore ma sitting here beside me?

Lockstep

rb_ie wrote: »

Why would it when I've got yore ma sitting here beside me?

Now THAT is too far.

Raphael

latchyco wrote: »

If it was a double suicide/murder tragedy ,you have to ask yourself what posesses and drives a sucsessful buisnessman to kill his lovey wife and children , then himself .

They say that Richard Corey owns one half of this whole town...

vote4pedro

Agamemnon wrote: »

I think you'll find there's a very low crime rate among those who are in prison for life.

Haha, classic. So you're advocating life imprisonment for most crimes? Or just stronger sentences? Despite the fact that this would probably have an adverse effect on recidivism rates in Ireland.
Fact of the matter is, and numerous other European countries have shown, that if you actually want to reduce the crime level you should be looking at imprisoning less people, for shorter amounts of time.
But it's far easier for average moron to say "Its about time judges started punching SCUM prisoners in the face, castrate them, then waterboard the PARENTS who are really to blame!!!!1! Send them all to Iraq!"

I have particularly enjoyed the people in this thread who are blaming supposed lenient sentences from the courts for this particular tragic case. I'm sure a parent who plans on killing their two children and spouse are really concerned with how many years they may be given by the Central Criminal Court, and perhaps considering recent precedent set by the court, before turning the gun on themselves. :rolleyes:
The fact that this has been turned in to another rabid get tough on crime drivelfest rather than a discussion on mental health in this country is particularly sad.

Elessar

This story is on the front of the Daily Mail.

I love how they automatically assume the father is the murderer.

Muff_Daddy

I was offended by Kickoutthejams joke, not because of the content, but because of how unfunny it was

latchyco wrote:

I think his choice of drug/steroid use would have altered his mental state

'Roid Rage', as you suspect he was suffering from, has never been proved to last for more than 5 minutes, that tragedy went on over the entire course of a weekend. Something snapped in Benoits head, and what that was, only he knows.

This case in Wexford does looks suspicously like a murder/suicide, so talk of death penalty/stiffer sentences in this thread are pretty much moot.

Agamemnon

vote4pedro wrote: »

Haha, classic. So you're advocating life imprisonment for most crimes? Or just stronger sentences? Despite the fact that this would probably have an adverse effect on recidivism rates in Ireland.
Fact of the matter is, and numerous other European countries have shown, that if you actually want to reduce the crime level you should be looking at imprisoning less people, for shorter amounts of time.
But it's far easier for average moron to say "Its about time judges started punching SCUM prisoners in the face, castrate them, then waterboard the PARENTS who are really to blame!!!!1! Send them all to Iraq!"

Criminals who repeatedly commit serious crimes should be locked up for life as they are beyond reform. The definition of "serious crimes" should include assault causing serious injury, rape, paedophilia and murder (including gangland bosses ordering murder). Some of the criminals in this country are beyond reform and they deserve to lose their freedom for good and the rest of us deserve to be protected from them. Naive, soft-headed notions about appealling to their better natures don't apply in such cases.

As long as violent, unrepentant criminals are in prison, they cannot menace society. This was the point of my original post, and it sailed in a graceful arc over your head.

ModeSkeletor

What the hell is all this talk about longer sentences/tougher laws/etc doing in this thread?? Diarmud Flood wasn't a violent criminal, he wasn't even a criminal for gods sake! He was a headcase who spontaneously flipped and slaughtered his family.. How would longer sentences have prevented this?????

It looks like it was defo a murder-suicide here is a quote from the indo:

ANOTHER Irish community was last night struggling to come to terms with the latest multiple murder-suicide tragedy

surely they can't print stuff like that without there being some truth to it?