The Cold Case Files Page 7

  Amid all the uncertainty about what happened to Inga-Maria once the Galloway Princess docked in Larne, one thing is now apparent. Detectives believe that Inga-Maria met her violent death within minutes or hours of arriving in Northern Ireland. Although her body was not found in Ballypatrick Forest until 20 April, developments in pathology and other tests have now led the PSNI to the view that Inga-Maria was murdered soon after arriving at the port in Larne. This would tie in with the fact that Inga-Maria’s last diary entry was on 6 April 1988 as she travelled across the Irish Sea on the ferry. She did not send any more postcards after this date and her camera, which was later found close to her body, showed that she never took any photos in Northern Ireland.

  An examination of the crime scene at the most western part of Ballypatrick Forest Park, which is forty miles from Larne, indicates Inga-Maria’s neck was broken where her body was found. It is possible that the full attack occurred at the forest, that Inga-Maria was sexually assaulted and beaten at this location before being murdered. But it is also possible that there is another crime scene or crime scenes. If Inga-Maria was abducted, the vehicle in which she was driven from Larne to Ballypatrick Forest might well have held forensic evidence. It is also possible that she was taken to another location before being brought to her death in the forest. There is nothing to firmly indicate this, but in the absence of much of the detail, police must keep their minds open to all possibilities.

  Almut Hauser and her husband Josef became very concerned when Inga-Maria stopped ringing home after 6 April. It just wasn’t like her not to be in contact. On the first week of her trip abroad she had been phoning every day, describing all the places she was visiting. When she failed to meet up with her friend as arranged in Wales on 9 April, it was very clear that something was terribly wrong. And then, on her mother’s birthday, 20 April, the worst fears of Inga-Maria’s family and friends were realised.

  A sheep farmer out on his rounds made the shocking discovery. It was Wednesday evening, 20 April 1988, and as the man walked in an isolated part of Ballypatrick Forest he discovered Inga-Maria’s body. The teenager was lying face down, and her clothing had been disturbed by her attacker. Her body lay in a grassy area close to tall trees at the end of a dirt-track in the deepest part of the forest. Inga-Maria’s backpack, and her two smaller bags and her shoes were all strewn nearby. She had suffered blunt force injuries to her face and head, and a pathologist would later determine that her neck was broken. It was possible that a weapon had been used to inflict the head and face injuries, or Inga-Maria may have been punched or kicked.

  Police were quickly able to identify Inga-Maria from her diary and travel documents, which were found with her body. Within a short time detectives had established that Inga-Maria had arrived in Larne on the night of 6 April. A medical opinion was initially given that Inga-Maria had died close to the date her body was found on 20 April and this meant she might have been held hostage somewhere for almost two weeks before being murdered. However, as part of a cold-case review sparked by the discovery in 2005 of a full DNA profile from the crime scene, police carried out a fresh assessment of Inga-Maria’s most likely date of death. The PSNI studied the footage of the crime scene from April 1988, and they conducted tests in Ballypatrick Forest in April 2007. Inga-Maria’s body had been remarkably intact when it was found; it had not been subject to any animal interference and this had led to some people thinking she might only have been dead some hours or days before she was found on 20 April. Establishing a precise date of death was essential in prioritising which people would be asked to give DNA samples to compare to the full profile which police now had. Some people might have been in Co. Antrim on 6 April but not later in the month, and vice-versa. In an effort to get a definitive conclusion on the most likely date of Inga-Maria’s murder, the PSNI asked a botanist to study the growth of nettles at the crime scene and compare crime scene images with the nettle growth of April 2007. Detectives also asked an entomologist from Queens University in Belfast to assist in studying fly activity and animal activity in the forest. Over the course of the month of April 2007 it was established that the location where Inga-Maria’s body was found was a particularly cool environment with very little fly activity and no animals. On comparing the topography of the area with how it appeared in April 1988, it was clear the appearance of Inga-Maria’s body was consistent with it having been in the forest since the earlier part of that month. From the pathology report, detectives knew that Inga-Maria’s hair was clean when her body was found, and again this was consistent with her having been murdered shortly after arriving in Northern Ireland, rather than her having been held captive anywhere. The logical assumption, and what all the scientific and general evidence now points to, is that Inga-Maria was driven to her death at Ballypatrick Forest Park on the night of 6 April or early hours of 7 April 1988.

  Whoever murdered Inga-Maria had very detailed knowledge of Ballypatrick Forest. The location where Inga-Maria was found is remote, it is in the western part of the forest, the furthest point from entrances, all located off the A2, which links the coastal town of Ballycastle with the villages of Cushendall and Glenariff further down the coast. By day Ballypatrick Forest Park is a beautiful mix of mature forests, wildlife trails and picnic sites. To the north is Glenmakeeran River and to the west are low-lying mountains. By day the forest is a popular spot for tourists and locals alike but by night, it can be a dark and lonely place, and not somewhere anyone might venture alone. Police who have studied the crime scene, and profilers who have been asked to give their assessment, have both come to the conclusion that the killer of Inga-Maria Hauser knew the forest very well. Or if there was more than one killer, at least one of them knew the location almost like the back of his hand. Assuming Inga-Maria was brought to the forest under cover of darkness, the killer or killers would have had just their vehicle’s headlights and the light of the moon to manoeuvre their vehicle down a rough track, then attack and murder Inga-Maria, and later drive their vehicle safely away. There were other isolated locations closer to the main road where the killer could have brought Inga-Maria, but he (or they) chose to go to the furthest point within the forest. This indicates a confidence of someone who knew the area and who went to the extra trouble of driving a further distance into the forest. Where Inga-Maria’s body was found was not somewhere a roaming killer with no links to Co. Antrim might choose to commit a crime; it was more likely the attacker had some close link not only to Antrim, but specifically to Ballypatrick Forest Park.

  In March 2011 the PSNI issued another major public appeal for assistance and disclosed more details about their ongoing enquiries, saying they were ‘tantalisingly close’ to making significant progress in solving Inga-Maria’s murder. The detectives involved in the current investigation have lived the case for the last few years. Knowing they have a full DNA profile from the crime scene which, despite massive efforts, they have been unable to match, has left them both frustrated and enthused. They haven’t made the breakthrough yet, but they feel they are so very close. It has been one of the largest DNA screening processes in the history of policing but still the ‘crime scene donor’ has not been identified. In March 2011 the PSNI focused their appeal on Co. Antrim, in particular the rural area east of Ballymoney. “I cannot rule out the possibility that more than one person was involved in Inga-Maria’s death,” said Detective Superintendent Raymond Murray.

  I also have a report that a man in the rural area east of Ballymoney was seen soon after the murder in April 1988 with scratches on his face and that there was concern in the community that he had some sort of involvement. I am asking for information, as opposed to statements or formal evidence. I recognise that some people may still feel uncomfortable talking directly to police, perhaps because of their past, or their allegiances. The important thing is that we bring this investigation to a successful conclusion, primarily for Inga-Maria and for her family who have suffered too much for too long but also for the people of north An
trim who will continue to have this lengthening shadow hanging over them until the killer or killers are caught.

  In the year that Inga-Maria Hauser was murdered, 106 people lost their lives as a result of ‘the Troubles’. Nineteen-eighty-eight was one of the most violent years in Northern Ireland and it was a year which also saw Troubles-related deaths in the Republic of Ireland, Gibraltar, Holland, Belgium and England. However, 95 of the 106 deaths that year due to ‘the Troubles’ occurred in Northern Ireland. On the very day that Inga-Maria Hauser arrived in Larne on the ferry from Scotland, an IRA bomb had exploded under a car in Co. Fermanagh close to the Cavan border. A 51-year-old father of five who was a part-time member of the Ulster Defence Regiment was killed. Less than a week after Inga’s body was found in Ballypatrick Forest the IRA killed two more people. A 23-year-old man was shot dead as he collected dustbins in Co. Tyrone on 26 April. The father of one was also a part-time member of the UDR. On the same day a 20-year-old British soldier was killed in an IRA booby trap bomb while he was on patrol in Co. Tyrone. The previous month had been one of the most violent and bizarre in the history of the Troubles. On 6 March the SAS shot dead three IRA members in Gibraltar. Their funerals were being held on 16 March at Milltown Cemetery in Belfast when a UFF gunman launched an attack and killed three men. Two of those shot dead were civilians while the other man was an IRA member. His funeral was being held three days later when two British soldiers in plainclothes drove into the cortège in west Belfast. The car was surrounded and the two men were pulled from the vehicle and taken to waste-ground a short distance away and shot dead. The moments leading up to the deaths of the two soldiers had been captured by television crews who had been filming the funeral of the IRA member. The harrowing scenes were broadcast on television screens around the world and Northern Ireland was at one of its lowest of many low ebbs.

  It was into this environment that Inga-Maria Hauser chose to visit Ireland. The 18-year-old German was not deterred by news reports of violence, shootings, bombings, maimings and murder. She saw a different Northern Ireland, and wanted to soak up the culture and meet ordinary people. While Inga-Maria’s murder had nothing to do with the Troubles, it seems that her killer used the surrounding mayhem to operate under the radar. While the RUC conducted a major investigation into Inga-Maria’s murder, they were faced with dozens upon dozens of other murders to investigate and there was also the fact that a significant number of nationalists would not engage with police at all.

  The PSNI represents a new era in policing in Northern Ireland. It’s not just about a name change, it’s about changing mindsets, and the new police service has been embraced by communities on both sides of the old divide. “We have come across paramilitaries as we have continued our screening process,” Raymond Murray tells me.

  We know who they are and they know who we are. That’s the way it is, they have still given their DNA sample like anyone else. They’ve been co-operative and they are anxious that Inga-Maria’s murder is solved. We believe that Inga-Maria’s murder was discussed amongst paramilitaries. We think that they had their suspicions. We are not where we were in 1988. A lot of water has flown under the bridge and perhaps it is time, be it through whatever means, either direct contact with police or through intermediaries or whatever, for that seam of information to come through. Could it be the key bit? These are rural communities in east Co. Antrim, they are close, they are tight-knit. People talk and people know every blade of grass in a hedgerow. They know when something isn’t right.

  Raymond Murray tells me that he is not necessarily looking for people to stand up and give evidence in court.

  Because we have the DNA profile from the crime scene, we don’t necessarily need someone to give evidence. It would be very nice if they would and it’s the best way, but we don’t need that for the case to stand up in court. We don’t need written statements, what we need is the piece of information which helps us put all of this into proper perspective, that might help us understand the chain of events that brought Inga-Maria from Larne to Ballypatrick Forest, and that we learn what happened on that journey, be it on the coast road or an inland road en route which completes the picture.

  In 1988 the concept of using DNA to identify an individual was in its infancy and there was no DNA database in Northern Ireland. The DNA process that was used in the late 80s was known as Single Locus Point and the material found at the scene of Inga-Maria’s murder allowed for a 1 in 2,000 match. The science involved was nowhere near as discriminating or as sensitive as it is today. But with the profile that was raised back then police went and took swab samples from seventy men who had been nominated for testing as part of the investigation. Most people co-operated and voluntarily gave a sample of their DNA. However, all of those who were tested came back negative, and the investigation eventually hit a brick wall. Because DNA profiles are raised through ‘destructive sampling’, the profile originally raised under the Single Locus Point couldn’t be compared to the developing technologies of Second Generation Matrix Plus which allowed for an astronomical advance in comparing samples. Police investigating Inga’s murder found that they had a DNA sample which couldn’t be compared to the thousands upon thousands of profiles which had by now been placed on databases for Northern Ireland and for England, Scotland and Wales. It was only in 2005, when Detective Inspector Tom McClure carried out a forensic review of the case that he found more DNA from which to raise a profile. It was a massive breakthrough and one which has kept Inga-Maria’s case to the fore ever since.

  Detectives have long been aware of the possibility that the name of the killer or killers may be in the investigation file somewhere. It may have been someone spoken to during door-to-door enquiries but who never raised the suspicions of police. Or the killer may have given a witness statement, or may have been stopped at a roadside checkpoint. There are many high-profile murder cases throughout the world where it turns out the killer was in the mix very early on but simply wasn’t identified as the culprit until much later. So once the PSNI had their new DNA profile which would allow for a one in a billion match, they consulted with a behaviourist at the National Crime Operations Faculty in England. He gave detectives certain parameters so as to ‘score’ every male who featured in any way in the case. The higher the score the higher the possibility that someone might be the type of person who should give their DNA sample. It might be that they had lived in the area of Larne or east Antrim, or that they had worked driving a vehicle around Northern Ireland, or had come into the mix in some other way. Detectives built up a matrix of what they called ‘male nominals’ and eventually went and took voluntary swabs from 1,000 men. Police put a huge effort into prioritising which people should be sampled, but after completing what is one of the largest such ‘voluntary swab’ procedures, not one of the men was a match for the ‘crime scene donor’.

  “One of the issues of working with DNA is that the science is advancing so quickly,” says Detective Superintendent Raymond Murray.

  Once we didn’t get a match from the 1,000 men that we prioritised for sampling, we then got high-level approval from our head of Crime Operations to ask the DNA overseer in England to do a familial trawl on the database. This is where a certain process can be used to search for siblings or a parent or child of the crime scene donor. Basically if his DNA is not on the database, the science is so advanced that we can possibly identify a close relative of his if they are on the database, and perhaps they can in turn lead us to the man we wish to identify. We did 500 such tests, we did a third of that number of tests looking for a brother or sister of the donor and the other two thirds looking at the parent and child list, but again we didn’t get a match. Just as we are wondering what we are going to do now, the scientists tell us about a new development called Y-STR DNA which relates to the male chromosome. Your Y-STR DNA should be the same as your father, grandfather, your brothers, your sons. This new science allowed us to eliminate not just individuals but entire male lines in a family.
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  But before they could do any test under the Y-STR analysis, scientists had to again raise a new profile from the crime scene DNA material. There was by now just a small amount of the crime scene stain left but the Forensic Science Service in England managed to raise a profile.

  Each time you raise a profile it is destructive sampling, but we managed to get a sample under this new method of Y-STR DNA. Again we don’t get a match with anyone, but what we do get are ‘inconclusives’; at the last count we had 44 men who were ‘inconclusives’. If you are a male, your Y-STR DNA should be passed directly to your son, and half your SGM + should also be passed to him, but every so often, and we’ve been quoted a figure of one in every 300 generational events, something happens and the DNA changes slightly, it mutates. So what the scientists have told us is that within those ‘inconclusives’ it is unlikely that it is a match but it may be a mutation and they cannot be totally eliminated. Within those 44 samples, there are some that are as absolutely close to the Y-STR profile without being an actual match. That is something we have to consider and have long considered. In one particular case over in England it turned out that one of the ‘inconclusives’ in a DNA trawl was indeed a male relative of that ‘crime scene donor’ who was being sought.

  It is a distance of 40 miles from Larne to Ballypatrick Forest. The most direct route is on the A2, which travels along the coast through Ballygalley, Carnlough and Cushendall before heading inland slightly. Just a few miles on and a turn off to the left is Ballypatrick Forest. Driving within the speed limit, and allowing for a number of vehicles leaving Larne from the ferry that evening, it is likely that a straight journey to Ballypatrick Forest would have taken about an hour. There is also another possible route to the forest, which is less direct but which police have also had to consider. Whoever drove Inga-Maria away from Larne could have driven west towards Ballymena before heading north on the A26 heading for Ballycastle on the north coast. This journey would have brought Inga-Maria close to Cloughmills and Loughguile and then through Armoy before the driver could have gone through Ballycastle and travelled south to Ballypatrick Forest. It’s a more roundabout journey involving a distance of almost 50 miles and a journey time of 80 minutes. It seems less likely that this is the way Inga’s killer travelled, but it’s a possibility nonetheless. Even if it wasn’t the way Inga-Maria was brought to the forest, it could have been the route which served as a return journey for the killer or killers as they made their escape.