Trial exposed sicko's knife fantasies

IT WAS the murder trial that gripped the nation - as the sordid sex fantasies of Graham Dwyer were laid bare across the front pages for six weeks.

- BY PAUL HEALY and MICHAEL O'TOOLE

He was the rich architect from Foxrock, a seemingly normal young father who went about his nine to five - but who hid a double life of affairs, BDSM and fantasised of knife play and murder. His seedy, disgusting text messages to innocent childcare worker Elaine O'Hara, 36, messages he thought no-one would ever see, made this a trial like no other.

Ten years ago last month, Dwyer was convicted and jailed for life for a murder he once believed he had easily gotten away with.

The prosecution successfully argued that Dwyer killed Elaine O'Hara in the Dublin mountains in August 2012 for his own sexual gratification after a secret affair lasting more than a year.

The investigation into Dwyer began after Elaine's badly decomposed remains, which were ultimately identified by dental records, were found by a dog walker on wooded land near Killakee in September 2013.

Investigators had initially believed she may have died in a personal tragedy - but in a chance discovery just three days prior, officers found handcuffs, restraints and other unusual items in the Vartry Reservoir near Roundwood, Co Wicklow.

Subsequent searches uncovered two Nokia mobile phones, which would ultimately be found to contain hundreds of revealing messages between a mysterious 083 number and Elaine - sealing Dwyer's fate.

The messages revealed that Elaine was in contact with someone who had fantasies and desires of stabbing during sex. A text between her and the 083 number on May 24, 2011, talked about stabbing a sheep and wanting "to do a woman next".

Investigators then went about trying to identify the anonymous texter who was messaging Elaine - with his obsession with model aircraft ultimately being the key.