Irish man receives life sentence for fatally stabbing ‘sex slave’
Dublin architect lured mentally unstable woman to mountains before fatally stabbing her while acting out sadomasochistic fantasy
An Irish architect obsessed with stabbing women during sex acts has been handed a mandatory life sentence at Dublin high court over a murder that has both repelled and fascinated Ireland.
The trial of Graham Dwyer for killing his "sex slave", Elaine O'Hara, has shone a light on the dark underworld of the Republic's violent sadomasochistic scene. Dwyer was convicted last month of luring O'Hara to the Dublin mountains on August 22, 2012, stabbing her to death and then concealing her body. The evidence heard was among the most graphic and disturbing heard by a jury in Ireland.
During a two-month trial jurors were shown a series of disturbing videos of the 42-year-old architect stabbing O'Hara while she was tied up. In some videos she was heard begging him to "please stop".
O'Hara was not the only woman filmed by Dwyer, who at times simulated stabbing those he tied up. Police are now attempting to track down the other women, depicted by Dwyer as his "slaves".
O'Hara emerged during the trial as a deeply troubled, lonely woman who yearned for a baby but also had severe mental health issues - vulnerable quarry for a dangerous predator on S&M websites such as Dwyer.
The court heard a series of text messages from the start of their relationship in 2007 between O'Hara, 36, and Dwyer in which he was referred to as "Master" or "Sir" and she as "Slave". Overall there were 2,600 messages filled with rape and murder fantasies.
When O'Hara was admitted to hospital after a suicide attempt in August 2012, one of Dwyer's text messages read: "You must be punished for trying to kill yourself without me."