Baby John was just five-days-old when he was found dead on a beach in County Kerry, Ireland, with 28 stab wounds and a broken neck in 1984 and his killer was never found
A newborn infant was tragically discovered deceased on a beach bearing 28 stab wounds and a fractured neck — yet neither his parents nor the perpetrator have ever been traced.
The devastating find 42 years ago remains amongst the most disturbing unsolved mysteries Ireland has witnessed — with haunting cold cases currently prominent in the nation. This is because there’s an active search underway for missing women Deirdre Jacob and Jo Jo Dullard, linked to notorious rapist Larry Murphy.
Here, we revisit the Kerry Babies case which culminated in the Irish state issuing an apology to one woman after she became embroiled in the deeply troubling scandal — despite being completely innocent.
On April 14, 1984, local farmer Jack Griffin was out jogging on White Strand beach around 8pm in County Kerry when he stumbled upon the most unthinkably horrific discovery — a deceased five-day-old baby boy.
He subsequently told the Irish Times: “It was pink in colour, face downwards with black hair and I thought to myself, it can’t be a baby, I was trying to say to myself it was a doll, but deep down I knew it wasn’t so I blessed myself.”
The infant, subsequently named Baby John, had sustained a broken neck and suffered 28 stab wounds. His body had washed ashore after being discarded into the sea.
The police murder squad travelled from Dublin to investigate — and they quickly focused on their prime suspect. At that time, Joanne Hayes was a 25-year-old receptionist and unmarried mother.
Despite occurring just four decades ago, Ireland was markedly different, with divorce and abortion outlawed, and children born outside marriage deemed illegitimate.
Joanne hailed from Abbeydorney in Kerry, roughly 80km from where Baby John’s body was discovered.
She was taken to hospital on the same day Baby John was found — and medics determined she had recently given birth to an infant.
Officers grew suspicious because there was no trace of the baby she’d had with a married man named Jeremiah Locke. She also had a daughter with Jeremiah called Yvonne.
Investigators believed they’d cracked the case when Hayes signed a statement confessing to having delivered Baby John before ending his life. Her relatives also acknowledged disposing of his body in the sea.
She faced a murder charge whilst four of her family members were accused in relation to the death.
Nevertheless, they subsequently withdrew the confessions, claiming they had been pressured.
It later came to light that Joanne had delivered a baby believed to have either been stillborn or who perished shortly after birth from natural causes. This occurred during the same week as Baby John.
Joanne named her son Shane and laid him to rest on the family farm.
Tests ultimately showed Shane’s blood type was O, matching his parents Joanne and Jeremiah. Baby John meanwhile had blood type A.
Astonishingly, despite this seemingly excluding her from the Baby John inquiry, gardai (Irish police) contended that she may have given birth to twins with two different fathers, a rare condition known as superfecundation.
It was suggested that Joanne could have buried baby Shane following his death before callously killing Baby John and discarding him into the sea.
Unsurprisingly, however, the case fell apart and all charges were subsequently dropped.
Joanne was then compelled to participate in the Kerry Babies tribunal, where she faced public questioning regarding her personal sex life. The inquiry, which attracted widespread criticism, was established to scrutinise police conduct.
At one stage, Joanne was forced to flee the witness stand to reach a toilet, where she was physically ill.
DNA testing carried out in 2018, some 34 years after Baby John was discovered washed ashore, concluded that Joanne could not have been his mother.
Former Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Leo Varadkar issued a formal apology to Joanne and her family. The botched investigation also resulted in them receiving €2.5million (£2.1m) in compensation.
Then Justice Minister Simon Harris described it as a “defining moment in social history” and said the treatment of Joanne was “despicable and unacceptable”.
Joanne published a book entitled My Story in 1985, though she has largely remained out of the public spotlight ever since.
In 2023, two individuals, a man in his 60s and a woman in her 50s, were arrested in connection with the Kerry Babies case before being released without charge. Yet the mystery surrounding Baby John remains unresolved, with the identities of both the parents and the killer still unknown.
Speaking two years ago, Superintendent Flor Murphy said: “I am again appealing to the public for any information in relation to the death of Baby John in 1984. Anyone who comes forward will be treated with sensitivity and compassion.”
The chilling case was examined in a Channel 4 documentary entitled Murdered: Baby on the Beach.
