Husband of Milltown woman who was stabbed to death in 1996 pleads for killer to be kept out Co Kildare

The grieving husband of a woman who was brutally murdered more than 20 years ago is pleading with the courts to enforce a ruling that will prevent her killer from entering the county. Joyce Quinn, a 44-year-old shop owner from Milltown, was stabbed and raped in January 1996. 22-year-old Kenneth O'Reilly was convicted of the murder of Ms Quinn in 1996, but was never charged for any sexual offences or placed on a sex offenders list. He is due to be released from jail in the next number of weeks. Joyce's heartbroken husband Ray has stated that he fears for the safety of people in the area upon the convicted murderer's release. "This is not a guy who exposes himself or is a flasher or a groper or something like that.The prime purpose of this offence or crime was rape and the murder was only an aside to cover it up," he said on RTÉ Radio One yesterday. Ms Quinn's body was found on the Curragh on January 24 1996 by a neighbour, a day after her son David had found her car close to the shop she ran in Milltown. There was blood inside the car and a cashbox that would have contained up to £400 was emptied. Mr O'Reilly was refused bail after he was charged with the murder in 1996 as around 50-60 locals raised their concerns about the possibility of the Milltown resident being allowed back into the area. 20 years on and Ray is still adamant that he should not be allowed anywhere near the area. "One of the things I would be asking as a condition of his release, and I'm resigned and I accept he will be released, is he should be kept out of the county of Kildare. "All my family live there. I have my three children, our grandchildren, we've other relatives there. My very elderly mother in law, Joyce's mother, comes down to visit reasonably frequently. None of us should have to take the risk of bumping into this guy. I mean we are the victims." He has asked Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald to intervene, but has not received a reply as of yet. "The crime he committed was not a spontaneous thing - it was coldly, planned, executed, he did a reconnaissance." "She had three stab wounds and he sexually assaulted her. That was never pursued because the way they explained it to me was they didn't know if Joyce was dead or alive when the sexual assault was taking place. So it was either rape or necrophilia and it was just said, 'Look we won't pursue that, we'll just go ahead with the murder aspect", continued Mr Quinn. Mr Quinn also said that he would fear for the safety of his youngest daughter who still lives in the village and looks very like her mother. "My youngest daughter is married to a young man from the village, very close neighbours of them, so she visits her in-laws. "And she is the girl who looks most like her mum. This guy fancied her mother. Who's to say what way he will feel if he saw her daughter as a mature young woman."