Top Limerick garda recalls grim discovery of two bodies by burglars in new RTÉ documentary

INSPECTOR Gearoid Thompson was on duty in west Limerick on a quiet Sunday night in May of 2015 when one of his colleagues told him a man wanted to speak to him

The vastly experienced garda in the Limerick Division had only recently taken up a new role in the county, was settling in and getting to know the new unit.

“I went into the public office. I saw a family that I would know locally - the leader of the family and four young males belonging to him. They were very upset. They were blessing themselves and had holy pictures. I brought him into a room. The story he started to tell me was amazing.”

They four young men had discovered two deceased persons - Julia Holmes and Thomas Ruttle (pictured below) - after breaking into a farmhouse in Askeaton to steal scrap metal.

“Burglars finding two dead bodies and reporting it to us before our knowledge... Could we have predicted who this woman would become?” said Insp Thompson, who is one of the participants in new documentary Swindlers, a new true-crime series, which begins this Wednesday night, February 18 at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player. 

The three-part series tells the extraordinary and shocking stories of some of Ireland's most renowned con-artists and white-collar criminals through the voices of the victims, friends and colleagues they deceived, the journalists that covered the cases and the law enforcers who fought for justice to be served. 

Each episode unravels a complex web of deceit and examines the personalities of the swindlers behind each con. The series explores the calculated tactics they used to deceive friends, family and institutions, and the methods that led to the swindlers’ eventual downfall. 

Episode one reveals the shocking story of international con artist, bigamist and sweet-talking criminal, Tyrone woman Julia Holmes. Julia swindled millions of pounds from multiple victims across three continents over four decades using 40 aliases.

She spent time in prison in Texas for fraud and was the subject of multiple criminal investigations involving the FBI, the PSNI and An Garda Síochána. Victims, law enforcement and the journalists who followed her antics tell the story of her life, incredulous crimes and ultimate downfall, but also the hurt and trauma she left behind. 

Julia, aged 63, and Thomas Ruttle, 56, were found dead in the bedroom of his Askeaton farmhouse on May 18, 2015. Thomas, a quietly spoken beekeeper, was Julia’s final victim. At the time she was being sought by gardai and police in Northern Ireland in connection with a number of suspected frauds.

Insp Thompson tells the documentary-makers that the leader of the family told him the four lads had gone to a property in Boolaglass, Askeaton, near Nantenan Cemetery.

“They knew that the place had been vacant. They reckon that the people living in it had been gone for some time. He said that the four were looking for scrap around the sheds and the yards and when they were not disturbed, they decided to break into the house to see could they find more scrap.”

The four young men had discovered the bodies of Julia and Thomas.

Insp Thompson and five gardai arrived at the farmhouse at 2.50am. 

“We climbed over a gate. I went into a house with no power, no light, no electricity, scrap on the ground, the place in total darkness. We're all operating with torchlights. Straight away even though it was May, you could feel the coldness in the house.

“We walked into the kitchen and you could see a big table. There were a lot of notes and letters on the table - ‘If you find us, don't revive us, we've said goodbye’ - words to that effect.”

Insp Thompson (pictured above) said they climbed to the top of the stairs and the first door on the left was slightly ajar. 

“I stood into the room and there they were as described, two corpses, and very much decomposed. They had been there a long time. It was a shocking sight.”

On first impressions it looked like a murder-suicide and a firearm had been used because of the position of the bodies and Julia’s face had been damaged. 

“I took it that, under bad light, that she may have been shot. What I did notice was there was an ash bucket at the end of the bed and there were other bits and pieces around, but there was nothing else remarkable.”

The following morning gardai could see that a chimney in the room, windows and vents had all been sealed. 

The then State Pathologist Marie Cassidy would later tell an inquest that the exact cause of the couple's death cannot be confirmed but the circumstances were consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning.

Insp Thompson  said when they commenced their investigation there were different first names and different second names for Julia Holmes but Julia appeared to be the common thread. 

“We put this lady's name into a search engine and she was infamous. She was wanted by the PSNI for fraud offenses. She had been convicted in the United States. She certainly burned a lot of people. Who is this woman? We had to identify what kind of footprint, and it was a big footprint that this lady left.”

Episode one of Swindlers: Julia Holmes will air this Wednesday, February 18 at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.