A charity established in Northern Ireland to help families who have questions about the tragic deaths of loved ones is investigating a number of cases in the Republic.
These involve people whose deaths were ruled as accidental but their relatives have suspicions over what exactly happened to them.
The Katie Trust was established in memory of Katie Simpson, a 21-year-old showjumper whose death in August 2020 was originally ruled as suicide.
However, a year later, 36-year-old Jonathan Creswell, the partner of her sister, was arrested on suspicion of murder.
His trial ended in April last year following his sudden death.
A review by Northern Ireland's Police Ombudsman found the initial police investigation was flawed and had failed Katie Simpson’s family.
The detective who uncovered the brutal truth about her death is former detective James Brannigan who has now retired from the Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Originally from Dublin, he told Behind the Story that he had founded The Katie Trust because families like Katie’s deserve answers to what could be a "hidden homicide".
"There was questions that needed to be answered surrounding Katie’s death," he said.
"Why did [Jonathan Cresswell] not call the ambulance, why did he try to drive her to the hospital, where’s her phone?
"These are simple questions that any investigator should ask".
Mr Brannigan said flags were raised to him by family members and friends.
"When you’re dealing with an abuser, they will isolate the individual and a lot of these domestic murders you deal with are well-planned events.
"It was friends who knew Katie and knew Creswell and knew how he was treating Katie that really had the real-life experience of what he was doing".
Mr Brannigan said Creswell peddled a story that Katie had been trampled by a horse.
"But when you saw her body, it was horrendous: all the bruises up her leg, up her arm… and her hands were like two boxing gloves – swollen and bruised.
"I didn’t buy it from the outset that a horse did this".
Mr Brannigan said he started the charity in Katie’s memory to "make sure this never happens again".
"I’ve been just shocked by the amount of families coming forward; to date, we have 14 families who have come onboard," he said.
"I’ve a number of cases coming from the Republic of Ireland.
"The Minister of Justice has said they’re going to meet with the charity and some of our trustees.
"The Garda Commissioner is also trying to facilitate a meeting".
'Huge closure'
Mr Brannigan said he believes the trust can help families of victims as well as the State.
"It’s not just going to assist families, but it’s also going to assist the Department of Justice and the police."
Mr Brannigan explained that the trust hopes to examine cases classified as suicides, accidents or disappearances and their family has concern over how their loved one died.
"If we look at that and we can say to the family, 'we can see that there’s no other hand involved in your loved one’s death’, that’s going to give them huge closure," he added.
In a statement to Behind the Story, the Department of Justice said: "Under Irish law, criminal investigations can only be carried out by An Garda Síochána, which then submits a report to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
"The DPP decides whether or not someone should be prosecuted and for what crime. By law, both the Gardaí and the DPP are independent in their functions and neither the Minister nor the Department can intervene or direct either organisation to prosecute any particular case."
You can listen to Behind the Story which is available on the RTÉ Radio Player.
You can also find episodes on Apple here, or on Spotify here.
Anyone affected by issues raised in this article can find support at rte.ie/helplines
