Read Online The Torso in the Canal by John Mooney - Free Book Online

was yet another factor that had to be considered. Britain had experienced muti killings. In 2001, the Metropolitan Police in London found a torso in the Thames River. The subsequent inquiry revealed the torso to be that of a young, African boy who had been murdered. The investigation never discovered the true identity of the boy but named the child ‘Adam’. That particular inquiry led to West Africa and the arrests of scores of people across Europe, including Ireland, but the killer was never located.
    However, some of the techniques used in the ‘Adam’ investigation were adopted by the Dublin team.
    In London, a technique called Isotope Analysis was used to establish the nationality of the dead boy. This involved testing samples from his intestines to reconstruct diet, and oxygen isotopes to determine geographic origin. The Garda were keen to do the same as, although they now knew the victim was black, they still had no idea where he came from or who the victim was. For this task, they hired the services of a forensic geologist in Belfast called Dr Auguestin. His techniques were similar to those used to test bone recovered from archaeological sites. These could be analysed isotopically for information regarding diet and migration while sometimes tooth enamel and soil clinging to remains could also be used in isotope analysis.
    In theory, it was possible to at least identify the victim’s country of origin, but in practice it was a less than exact science.
    Mangan had hoped he might get a breakthrough using this technique; though he was soon to learn that fortune was to pay him a favour. Two witnesses had come forward.
     
    *****
     
    On Monday, 9 May, some six weeks after the body parts had first been discovered in the canal, Noor’s friend from Kismayu, Mohammed Ali Abu Bakaar read an article a newspaper called The Street Journal . That he was reading the article was a chance occurrence. The story in question told of how the dismembered remains of a black male had been found in the Royal Canal.
    The article quoted Mangan talking about the investigation, how the body had been found, and the urgent need for help.
    The article in itself didn’t attract Bakaar’s interest; he merely glanced at the contents. What did was the photograph that accompanied it. It showed a white Ireland football jersey, the same type of jersey he had seen his friend Farah Noor wearing during the St Patrick’s weekend celebrations. The more Bakaar read, the more he became concerned, though initially he didn’t panic. Noor had been in the company of his girlfriend, Kathleen. If anything had happened; surely she would have reported him missing.
    As a precaution more than anything else, he tried to call Noor on his mobile phone, but the line was disconnected. He thought this was strange. He then inquired among members of the Somali community living in Dublin. No one had heard from Noor for some time.
    When he spoke to Deirdre Hyland, the woman who had also met Noor on O’Connell Street in March, she too became anxious.
    Like everyone else, the two had heard about the grotesque killing but they did not wish to waste police time. The two were calm and lucid, and thought about what best to do.
    Rather than call the incident room directly, Hyland called a cousin in the Garda who passed on their concerns to Fitzgibbon Street. This was the first breakthrough in the torso in the canal case.
    When the team heard that two witnesses had come forward, they became excited. The information, though, took on a fresh urgency once Mangan was discreetly informed the potential victim had been seen wearing an Irish soccer jersey. Two detectives—Malachy Dunne and Patrick Flood—were immediately sent to interview the witnesses about what they had seen.
    By this stage, other people from the immigrant community had also become concerned for Noor. Another friend of his, Mohammed Ali Noor, had come forward to say he had also met him around St Patrick’s Day and he