Could carpenter Larry Murphy - serving a 15 year sentence for rape - be responsible for the murder of Deirdre Jacob, Jo Jo Dullard, Annie McCarrick and others who have disappeared?

JUST hours after Larry Murphy was arrested the phones started ringing at garda headquarters. The detectives in Baltinglass garda station had an urgent message for Operation Trace. A man had been apprehended in Co Wicklow following the repeated rape and assault of a young woman.

And his modus operandi made him a prime suspect for a number of unsolved cases of missing and murdered women.

Murphy had approached his victim in a car park in Carlow town on the evening of Friday 11 February 2000. As she took her car keys out of her bag, Murphy struck her in the face with enough force to fracture her nose. Before she had time to recover, he bundled her into her car and ordered her to take off her bra, which he used to tie her wrists together. Then he took off her shoes. Within a few minutes he had calmly, successfully abducted a woman and rendered her completely helpless. And nobody saw a thing.

Murphy then bundled his victim into the boot of his own car. He drove nine miles to Beaconstown, where he stopped on a deserted dirt track and raped her. He put her back in the boot, drove 14 miles to Castledermot and up the Wicklow Mountains to a heavily forested area called Kilranelagh. There, he raped her repeatedly before putting her back in the boot again.

Detectives believe that at this point Murphy intended to take his victim to a third destination, where he planned to kill her. But then, unexpectedly, the woman began to fight back. As she struggled to get out of the boot, he forced a white plastic bag over her head. She later said she thought she was inhaling something chemical and began to feel lightheaded. There is no doubt but that he was trying to kill her.

It was then that two hunters happened across the car, and inadvertently saved the woman's life.

As Murphy sped away from the scene of the crime, the men saw his face. They recognised him as Lawrence Murphy, a local carpenter, a fellow hunter, a devoted family man.

After talking to the victim, the detectives were immediately struck at the calculated and calm manner with which Murphy had carried out the attack. He had no prior convictions and yet his crime bore all the hallmarks of someone who was well-versed in his actions. Someone who had done this before. With apparent ease he had snatched a woman from a public area, leaving no trace of a struggle, no witnesses to the attack. The detectives put the call through to Operation Trace.

The trace unit had been set up in 1998 to investigate whether there was a link between the disproportionate number of young women who had gone missing or been killed in the Leinster region within a relatively short period of time.

When the unit was established, the then garda commissioner Pat Byrne admitted gardai were effectively trying to determine whether a serial killer was at work.

They reviewed the details of Larry Murphy's crime with a terrible, growing excitement. Their initial enquiries revealed Murphy had worked as a roofing contractor on a house in Newbridge around the time 18-year-old teenager Deirdre Jacob disappeared in 1998. Jacob was just 300 yards from her home when she disappeared in broad daylight and was never seen again. It was one of the most significant developments in the history of the Operation Trace investigation.

They had a link, though tenuous, between a brutal rapist and a missing woman.

"We could put him there in the days before she went missing, but not on the exact day, " said one garda source. "It was something, but obviously it wasn't enough."

Detectives then looked at whether there could be any link between Murphy and the disappearance of 21-year-old Jo Jo Dullard, who went missing while trying to hitch a lift home to Callan in 1995.

Dullard last made contact with her friend when she called her from a phone box in Moone.

She cut the call short when a car had stopped to give her a lift. She was never heard from again, although a woman matching her description was seen by several witnesses hitching on the side of the road in Castledermot.

The trace unit was very aware that Dullard disappeared within just a few miles of Murphy's home. They made extensive house-to-house enquiries and checked every pub in the area, trying to determine if he had been out on the road that night. But they couldn't find anything definitive.

They then turned their attention to the disappearance of Annie McCarrick, a young American woman who was last seen in the company of a strange man in Johnnie Fox's pub in the Dublin Mountains in 1993. The man was described as being in his mid-20s, around 5ft 10in tall, well built and physically fit. He had square shoulders and a clean-shaven square face. The description fit Murphy perfectly, but again it didn't prove anything.

Following his arrest, there were numerous rumours that Murphy had also worked as a carpenter on Johnnie Fox's pub around the time McCarrick went missing. However, after much investigation, this was found not to be the case.

Finding a link between Murphy and the other Operation Trace cases seemed less likely. In the case of Antoinette Smith, there was one obvious similarity . . . Smith was found buried with a plastic bag over her head and Murphy had used a plastic bag during his attack on the woman in the mountains. However, detectives were conscious that a plastic bag may have presented itself as an opportunistic weapon in either case, rather than be a trademark killing device.

Determined to find some hard evidence, gardai traced every vehicle Murphy had ever owned and had them combed for forensic clues. His house, his clothes, his tools were all subjected to forensic scrutiny. But still nothing was found.

Despite the lack of any concrete evidence many detectives remain convinced Murphy was responsible for at least one . . . and probably three . . . of the Operation Trace cases. FBI detectives who visited Ireland recently are inclined to agree. All the elements were there. He had an intimate knowledge of the Leinster region. He was known locally as somewhat of a loner and some women later told detectives they found him intimidating, though not physically.

Following his attack on the young woman, witnesses had come forward to say they had seen Murphy in the car park an hour before the attack.

This strongly indicated the assault was preplanned, although Murphy claimed he had just called into Carlow town to buy a bag of chips.

But most tellingly, for 35 years Larry Murphy had remained under the radar of the gardai . . . despite obviously harbouring extremely violent sexual impulses towards women. If the hunters hadn't disturbed him, there is little doubt Murphy's victim would be just another name on the missing persons list. Investigating officers believe Murphy has killed. It's just a question of proving it.

Sarah McInerney's book about women who have been assaulted or killed in the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains, 'Where No One Can Hear You Scream', will be published this autumn by Gill and Macmillan The unsolved missing women cases that have been linked to Murphy 1982 . . . Patricia Furlong was found murdered following the Fraughan Festival in the Dublin Mountains. A man called Vincent Connell was later convicted of the crime but the conviction was overturned on appeal.

The crime is officially unsolved.

1987 . . . Antoinette Smith disappeared from Dublin city centre after attending a concert with her friend. Her body was found in the mountains six months later.

1991 . . . Patricia Doherty wasdoing some late night shopping on 23 December when she vanished near her home in Tallaght. Her body was found buried in the mountains six months later, within a mile of where Antoinette Smith's body had been found.

1993 . . . Annie McCarrick, a young American woman, was last seen in the company of a strange man in Johnnie Fox's pub in the Dublin Mountains.

Rumours that Larry Murphy was working on Johnnie Fox's at the time of her disappearance were found to be unsubstantiated.

1993 . . . A few months later, 39year-old Eva Brennan disappeared from her home in Rathgar in south Dublin city. She was never seen again.

1995 . . . Jo Jo Dullard was abducted from the side of the road in Co Kildare as she tried to hitch a lift home to Callan, Co Kilkenny. The 21-year-old disappeared within a few miles of Larry Murphy's home.

1998 . . . Student Deirdre Jacob was walking to her house in Newbridge, Co Kildare when she disappeared in broad daylight. It was later discovered that Larry Murphy had been working as a roofing contractor on her uncle's house over the previous weeks.

Could carpenter Larry Murphy - serving a 15 year sentence for rape - be responsible for the murder of Deirdre Jacob, Jo Jo Dullard, Annie McCarrick and others who have disappeared?

JUST hours after Larry Murphy was arrested the phones started ringing at garda headquarters. The detectives in Baltinglass garda station had an urgent message for Operation Trace. A man had been apprehended in Co Wicklow following the repeated rape and assault of a young woman.

And his modus operandi made him a prime suspect for a number of unsolved cases of missing and murdered women.

Murphy had approached his victim in a car park in Carlow town on the evening of Friday 11 February 2000. As she took her car keys out of her bag, Murphy struck her in the face with enough force to fracture her nose. Before she had time to recover, he bundled her into her car and ordered her to take off her bra, which he used to tie her wrists together. Then he took off her shoes. Within a few minutes he had calmly, successfully abducted a woman and rendered her completely helpless. And nobody saw a thing.

Murphy then bundled his victim into the boot of his own car. He drove nine miles to Beaconstown, where he stopped on a deserted dirt track and raped her. He put her back in the boot, drove 14 miles to Castledermot and up the Wicklow Mountains to a heavily forested area called Kilranelagh. There, he raped her repeatedly before putting her back in the boot again.

Detectives believe that at this point Murphy intended to take his victim to a third destination, where he planned to kill her. But then, unexpectedly, the woman began to fight back. As she struggled to get out of the boot, he forced a white plastic bag over her head. She later said she thought she was inhaling something chemical and began to feel lightheaded. There is no doubt but that he was trying to kill her.

It was then that two hunters happened across the car, and inadvertently saved the woman's life.

As Murphy sped away from the scene of the crime, the men saw his face. They recognised him as Lawrence Murphy, a local carpenter, a fellow hunter, a devoted family man.

After talking to the victim, the detectives were immediately struck at the calculated and calm manner with which Murphy had carried out the attack. He had no prior convictions and yet his crime bore all the hallmarks of someone who was well-versed in his actions. Someone who had done this before. With apparent ease he had snatched a woman from a public area, leaving no trace of a struggle, no witnesses to the attack. The detectives put the call through to Operation Trace.

The trace unit had been set up in 1998 to investigate whether there was a link between the disproportionate number of young women who had gone missing or been killed in the Leinster region within a relatively short period of time.

When the unit was established, the then garda commissioner Pat Byrne admitted gardai were effectively trying to determine whether a serial killer was at work.

They reviewed the details of Larry Murphy's crime with a terrible, growing excitement. Their initial enquiries revealed Murphy had worked as a roofing contractor on a house in Newbridge around the time 18-year-old teenager Deirdre Jacob disappeared in 1998. Jacob was just 300 yards from her home when she disappeared in broad daylight and was never seen again. It was one of the most significant developments in the history of the Operation Trace investigation.

They had a link, though tenuous, between a brutal rapist and a missing woman.

"We could put him there in the days before she went missing, but not on the exact day, " said one garda source. "It was something, but obviously it wasn't enough."

Detectives then looked at whether there could be any link between Murphy and the disappearance of 21-year-old Jo Jo Dullard, who went missing while trying to hitch a lift home to Callan in 1995.

Dullard last made contact with her friend when she called her from a phone box in Moone.

She cut the call short when a car had stopped to give her a lift. She was never heard from again, although a woman matching her description was seen by several witnesses hitching on the side of the road in Castledermot.

The trace unit was very aware that Dullard disappeared within just a few miles of Murphy's home. They made extensive house-to-house enquiries and checked every pub in the area, trying to determine if he had been out on the road that night. But they couldn't find anything definitive.

They then turned their attention to the disappearance of Annie McCarrick, a young American woman who was last seen in the company of a strange man in Johnnie Fox's pub in the Dublin Mountains in 1993. The man was described as being in his mid-20s, around 5ft 10in tall, well built and physically fit. He had square shoulders and a clean-shaven square face. The description fit Murphy perfectly, but again it didn't prove anything.

Following his arrest, there were numerous rumours that Murphy had also worked as a carpenter on Johnnie Fox's pub around the time McCarrick went missing. However, after much investigation, this was found not to be the case.

Finding a link between Murphy and the other Operation Trace cases seemed less likely. In the case of Antoinette Smith, there was one obvious similarity . . . Smith was found buried with a plastic bag over her head and Murphy had used a plastic bag during his attack on the woman in the mountains. However, detectives were conscious that a plastic bag may have presented itself as an opportunistic weapon in either case, rather than be a trademark killing device.

Determined to find some hard evidence, gardai traced every vehicle Murphy had ever owned and had them combed for forensic clues. His house, his clothes, his tools were all subjected to forensic scrutiny. But still nothing was found.

Despite the lack of any concrete evidence many detectives remain convinced Murphy was responsible for at least one . . . and probably three . . . of the Operation Trace cases. FBI detectives who visited Ireland recently are inclined to agree. All the elements were there. He had an intimate knowledge of the Leinster region. He was known locally as somewhat of a loner and some women later told detectives they found him intimidating, though not physically.

Following his attack on the young woman, witnesses had come forward to say they had seen Murphy in the car park an hour before the attack.

This strongly indicated the assault was preplanned, although Murphy claimed he had just called into Carlow town to buy a bag of chips.

But most tellingly, for 35 years Larry Murphy had remained under the radar of the gardai . . . despite obviously harbouring extremely violent sexual impulses towards women. If the hunters hadn't disturbed him, there is little doubt Murphy's victim would be just another name on the missing persons list. Investigating officers believe Murphy has killed. It's just a question of proving it.

Sarah McInerney's book about women who have been assaulted or killed in the Dublin and Wicklow Mountains, 'Where No One Can Hear You Scream', will be published this autumn by Gill and Macmillan The unsolved missing women cases that have been linked to Murphy 1982 . . . Patricia Furlong was found murdered following the Fraughan Festival in the Dublin Mountains. A man called Vincent Connell was later convicted of the crime but the conviction was overturned on appeal.

The crime is officially unsolved.

1987 . . . Antoinette Smith disappeared from Dublin city centre after attending a concert with her friend. Her body was found in the mountains six months later.

1991 . . . Patricia Doherty wasdoing some late night shopping on 23 December when she vanished near her home in Tallaght. Her body was found buried in the mountains six months later, within a mile of where Antoinette Smith's body had been found.

1993 . . . Annie McCarrick, a young American woman, was last seen in the company of a strange man in Johnnie Fox's pub in the Dublin Mountains.

Rumours that Larry Murphy was working on Johnnie Fox's at the time of her disappearance were found to be unsubstantiated.

1993 . . . A few months later, 39year-old Eva Brennan disappeared from her home in Rathgar in south Dublin city. She was never seen again.

1995 . . . Jo Jo Dullard was abducted from the side of the road in Co Kildare as she tried to hitch a lift home to Callan, Co Kilkenny. The 21-year-old disappeared within a few miles of Larry Murphy's home.

1998 . . . Student Deirdre Jacob was walking to her house in Newbridge, Co Kildare when she disappeared in broad daylight. It was later discovered that Larry Murphy had been working as a roofing contractor on her uncle's house over the previous weeks.