Suspected serial killer held in Spain -- near where Irish teenager Amy disappeared

Suspected serial killer held in Spain -- near where Irish teenager Amy disappeared

MUM'S FEARS: Arrested man went to same gym as her boyfriend


By Alan O'Keeffe


Tuesday October 11 2011


HEARTACHE: Amy Fitzpatrick vanished in 2008 and mum Audrey, inset, has led search for her ever since

The mother of missing Irish teenager Amy Fitzpatrick is increasingly anxious about a suspected serial killer arrested a short distance from Amy's former home in Spain.

Audrey Fitzpatrick said she was alarmed to discover the suspect trained in the same gym as her partner, Dave Mahon.

The man suspected of serial killings by the Spanish police had been using a fake Irish passport at the time of his arrest.

It has now emerged he is German and was wanted by police investigating the murders of two prostitutes in their homes on the Costa del Sol.

He was arrested at a gym in Riviera del Sol in southern Spain and has since been charged with murder, aggravated robbery, identity theft, fraud, and document forgery.

According to the accused man, he contacted the two victims through an ad he saw in a local English language paper.


PASSPORT

Dubliner Amy was 15 when she went missing near her home in Calahonda on the Costa del Sol on New Year's Day 2008. She had been living with her mother, brother Dean, and her mother's partner Mr Mahon.

Her mother told the Herald: "That man arrested by police was living in the area since 2007 and he would have been around several places that Amy would have visited regularly. He went to the same gym as my partner Dave. Neither of us knew him."

She said police had told her following the arrest that they were not linking him to Amy's disappearance.

But local news reports have claimed police wanted to question him about the murders of other women in the region.

"I am anxious as I can't help thinking he was claiming to be Irish with a fake passport. Maybe he could have met Amy," she said.

She has contacted the Irish embassy in Spain to seek assistance in re-establishing contact with local police. She used to have monthly meetings with police but no meetings have taken place in the past year.

Police in Spain are understood to have liaised with gardai to confirm their suspicions the suspect may have carrying false documentation.


FINGERPRINTS

He is thought to have obtained his fake Irish passport after completing an 18-year prison sentence in his home country for killing a woman during a robbery.

Spanish police determined his identity, with the help of Interpol, by checking if his DNA and fingerprints match that of any known European suspects.

aokeeffe@herald.ie

- Alan O'Keeffe

MUM'S FEARS: Man held in Spain also used a fake Irish passport



By Alan O'Keeffe


Thursday October 13 2011


AMY Fitzpatrick vanished in 2008 and mum Audrey has led search for her ever since.

The mother of missing Irish teenager Amy Fitzpatrick is increasingly anxious about a suspected serial killer arrested a short distance from Amy's former home in Spain.

Audrey Fitzpatrick said she was alarmed to discover the suspect trained in the same gym as her partner, Dave Mahon.

The man suspected of serial killings by the Spanish police had been using a fake Irish passport at the time of his arrest.

It has now emerged he is German and was wanted by police investigating the murders of two prostitutes in their homes on the Costa del Sol.

He was arrested at a gym in Riviera del Sol in southern Spain and has since been charged with murder, aggravated robbery, identity theft, fraud, and document forgery.

According to the accused man, he contacted the two victims through an ad he saw in a local English language paper.


Passport

Dubliner Amy was 15 when she went missing near her home in Calahonda on the Costa del Sol on New Year's Day 2008. She had been living with her mother, brother Dean, and her mother's partner Mr Mahon.

Her mother told the Herald: "That man arrested by police was living in the area since 2007 and he would have been around several places that Amy would have visited regularly. He went to the same gym as my partner Dave. Neither of us knew him."

She said police had told her following the arrest that they were not linking him to Amy's disappearance.

But local news reports have claimed police wanted to question him about the murders of other women in the region.

"I am anxious as I can't help thinking he was claiming to be Irish with a fake passport. Maybe he could have met Amy," she said.

She has contacted the Irish embassy in Spain to seek assistance in re-establishing contact with local police. She used to have monthly meetings with police but no meetings have taken place in the past year.

Police in Spain are understood to have liaised with gardai to confirm their suspicions the suspect may have carrying false documentation.


He is thought to have obtained his fake Irish passport after completing an 18-year prison sentence in his home country for killing a woman during a robbery.

Spanish police determined his identity, with the help of Interpol, by checking if his DNA and fingerprints match that of any known European suspects.

aokeeffe@herald.ie

- Alan O'Keeffe

October 17, 2011
AN IRISH detective has discredited claims that a German serial killer could be linked to the disappearance of Irish teen Amy Fitzpatrick.

Liam Brady – who has spent years working on the case to find Amy who disappeared in Calahonda in 2008 – insisted that he would not consider the man a suspect.

“Both the women were older than Amy and both were contacted by the alleged killer after he saw an advertisement in a local magazine,” said Brady.

“This is something that Amy would not have done and there is a gap of four years between her disappearance and these deaths.”

The comments came after Amy’s mother Audrey Fitzpatrick spoke out about her fears over the suspected killer who lived within walking distance of their home.

“I want to know that this man who lived under our noses since 2007, is being investigated,” she told the Irish Herald. “It is only the media that seems to be helping us.”

Ironically, when the Olive Press contacted her she refused to comment.