Gardaí believe foul play of any kind is very unlikely in the deaths of Bridget ‘Biddy’ O’Brien (45) and Jamie McGinn (38) at the home they shared in Bray, Co Wicklow.
However, the precise cause of O’Brien’s death has not been fully determined and gardaí believe the results of toxicology tests will be required before they can be certain how she died.
Sources told The Irish Times no evidence has been found to suggest anyone else was present when O’Brien or McGinn died and that nothing suggested third party involvement or foul play.
McGinn, whose remains were discovered in the garden of the property in the Cois Cairn estate on Old Connaught Avenue, suffered wounds that gardaí believe were self-inflicted.
O’Brien was found inside the house and there were no signs of violence on her body or in the bedroom.
Gardaí believe O’Brien may have been dead for a period before McGinn found her and then took his own life. However, sources stressed it may be several weeks before the full set of toxicology results was available. At this stage, gardaí are treating the deaths as a tragedy.
The investigation team would likely only compile a case file for a coroner’s inquest, sources said. A criminal file would not be prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions unless something unusual emerged from the toxicology tests, sources said, as the circumstances of their deaths suggest no criminal charges should arise.
If that remains the case, details of how the couple died will emerge during an inquest, the purpose of which is to determine a cause of death only.
The couple lost their two children, Jordan (4) and Holly (3), in a fire in Clondlakin, Dublin almost 10 years ago. A number of locals in Bray, and others who knew them, said the couple had struggled in the years since and turned to drugs due to their trauma.
The house where the couple died has remained sealed off since their remains were found at about 8am on Wednesday, with the Garda Technical Bureau carrying out a full examination.
O’Brien suffered extensive and life-changing burns in the 2017 fire in which Jordan and Holly died. The blaze broke out at a facility for women moving on from domestic violence, which they had been visiting. O’Brien’s relative Anne-Marie O’Brien (27), her daughter Hannah-Paris (2) and her unborn son AJ also died in the Clondalkin fire.
O’Brien was the only survivor of the fire and missed the funerals of her two children due to her injuries. She only learned Holly and Jordan had died about six weeks after the incident. During her long stay in hospital, McGinn maintained a vigil at her bedside.