The Murder of Robert Holohan
In January of 2006, 21-year old engineering student Wayne O'Donoghue was sentenced to four years in prison for manslaughter following the death of his next door neighbor Robert Holohan, an incident that had occurred the year before.
According to reports, Holohan's death happened on January 4, 2005 when some "playful roughhousing" went too far. He and O'Donoghue were friends, and Robert had wanted a ride to get a milkshake - O'Donoghue refused due to a school project. Annoyed with his friend, Holohan began throwing rocks at O'Donoghue's car, and in an effort to get him to stop, Wayne put his 11-year-old neighbor into a headlock. |
When he let go, the child fell to the ground. It was at that moment that Wayne O'Donoghue realized he had accidentally killed Robert Holohan. Panicked and frightened, O'Donoghue dumped Robert's body in a ditch, and in the month following the boy's "disappearance" he joined a group of up to 700 people in the search for Robert. However, on January 12, 2005 Wayne turned himself into the police and led them to the site where he had left Robert's body.
In the months following O'Donoghue's confession, he was arrested and tried with manslaughter for the death of Robert Holohan. During a 10-day trial, he admitted his mistakes and seemed to accept responsibility and express remorse for the events that had transpired. At one point he stated, "There was never any intent to harm Robert. What happened was a fluke of an accident." On January 26, 2006 - approximately a year after the incident had taken place - O'Donoghue was sentenced to four years in prison.
O'Donoghue spent three years in prison, being released a year early for good behavior, and afterwards moved to England. He graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a degree in Architecture and furthermore joined an architecture firm in 2011. He currently goes by his middle name.
While the initial aftermath of Robert Holohan's death has passed, emotions and reactions amongst both families are still heightened. In a recent article Robert's mother Majella Holohan said, "Rob was our pride and joy, he loved the outdoor life and before he owned his own pony, he mucked out at local stables and took riding lessons". Similarly, in reaction to a current expose on her son, Wayne's mother Therese said, "Wayne had no option but to try and build a new life for himself outside of Ireland after all that happened here. Is he not going to be even allowed to have that life now?" Both of these statements show that while the initial blows have ended, the healing process for these families is still greatly underway.
In the months following O'Donoghue's confession, he was arrested and tried with manslaughter for the death of Robert Holohan. During a 10-day trial, he admitted his mistakes and seemed to accept responsibility and express remorse for the events that had transpired. At one point he stated, "There was never any intent to harm Robert. What happened was a fluke of an accident." On January 26, 2006 - approximately a year after the incident had taken place - O'Donoghue was sentenced to four years in prison.
O'Donoghue spent three years in prison, being released a year early for good behavior, and afterwards moved to England. He graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a degree in Architecture and furthermore joined an architecture firm in 2011. He currently goes by his middle name.
While the initial aftermath of Robert Holohan's death has passed, emotions and reactions amongst both families are still heightened. In a recent article Robert's mother Majella Holohan said, "Rob was our pride and joy, he loved the outdoor life and before he owned his own pony, he mucked out at local stables and took riding lessons". Similarly, in reaction to a current expose on her son, Wayne's mother Therese said, "Wayne had no option but to try and build a new life for himself outside of Ireland after all that happened here. Is he not going to be even allowed to have that life now?" Both of these statements show that while the initial blows have ended, the healing process for these families is still greatly underway.