In the early hours of December 22nd, 1995, a 41-year-old woman stepped off a night bus just minutes from home. She had been laughing with friends only hours earlier, celebrating Christmas in the heart of Dublin. But in a dark shortcut through Tolka Valley Park, Marilyn Rynn’s journey ended in brutal violence. Her murder would shock Ireland—and quietly change criminal investigations forever, becoming the first case in the country to be solved by DNA. Radio Espial presents the first ever comprehensive timeline of her case.  

On the morning of Tuesday, December 20th, 2011, 39-year-old Monica Riordan left her workplace at Pobal on Holles Street in Dublin. By nightfall, she had vanished. Originally from Finglas and living in Navan, Co. Meath, Monica was seen several times throughout Dublin city centre that day. CCTV captured her movements as she appeared increasingly disoriented and distressed, making multiple emergency calls and walking alone through the Docklands in cold, wet conditions. Her mobile phone was later found near the Grand Canal, and weeks later her handbag was recovered from the River Liffey. Despite extensive searches, Garda appeals, and tireless efforts by her family and colleagues, Monica was never found. In this episode of Radio Espial - True Crime, we reconstruct Monica Riordan’s final known day through a detailed timeline — tracing confirmed sightings, public appeals, investigative efforts, and the inquest findings — while keeping the focus on facts, compassion, and the unanswered quest...

The mysterious death of Elisa Lam remains one of the most infamous and misunderstood true-crime cases of the decade. In January 2013, 21-year-old Canadian student Elisa Lam vanished while staying at the notorious Cecil Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. When she failed to make her daily check-in call home, a missing persons investigation began—but what followed would ignite a global firestorm. When the LAPD released elevator CCTV showing Elisa behaving erratically—pressing buttons, hiding, stepping in and out of the elevator as if reacting to something unseen—the internet exploded. The video went viral overnight, spawning conspiracy theories, online sleuth communities, accusations, and global speculation. Everyone believed they knew the truth. Three weeks later, Elisa’s body was discovered in a rooftop water tank after guests complained of discoloured water and low pressure. Her death became the centre of lawsuits, media sensationalism, and endless online myths—all while the real story bec...

In April 1991, 43-year-old Charles Brooke Pickard vanished without a trace after being abducted at gunpoint from White Strand Beach in Castlecove, County Kerry. Weeks later, his burned-out navy Ford Transit van was discovered deep in a forest near Waterville — but Pickard was never found. What unfolded was a chilling investigation spanning decades, revealing a meticulously planned abduction involving men from both Northern and Southern Ireland. While early theories pointed to paramilitary involvement, Gardaí and the PSNI would later dismiss that angle, suggesting instead that either a deeply personal local grievance or rumours and misinformation may have been the true motive behind one of Ireland’s most haunting unsolved murders.  

In January 1996, Alpho O’Reilly — one of Ireland’s most celebrated designers and a respected figure in Dublin’s theatre world — vanished without a trace. Last seen in the early hours of the morning at a petrol station in Co. Wicklow, the 73-year-old drove off in his green Mitsubishi Colt and was never seen again. His car has never been recovered. His passport remained at home. His bank account was never touched. Nearly 30 years later, his disappearance remains one of Ireland’s most baffling cold cases. Who was Alpho O’Reilly, and what really happened on that winter night in 1996? This video explores the life, career, and mysterious disappearance of Alpho O’Reilly — from his groundbreaking work at RTÉ and in Dublin theatre, to the unanswered questions that still haunt this case.  

In January 1982, Charles “Charlie” Self, a talented stage and set designer with RTÉ, was found brutally murdered in his Monkstown home. Known for his groundbreaking work on The Late Late Show and many other RTE flagship programmes at the time, Charles was a rising star in Irish television before his life was cut short in a violent and still-unsolved attack. This Radio Espial timeline episode explores his life and career, the night of the murder, the Garda investigation, and the social and cultural climate of 1980s Ireland. More than 40 years later, Charles Self’s case remains one of the country’s most enduring unsolved crimes.