'Ruth of all evil': double murderer Lawrence gets two life terms

A jury at the Central Criminal Court has convicted Ruth Lawrence of murdering Anthony Keegan and Eoin O'Connor between April and May 2014. Justice Tony Hunt handed down two concurrent life sentences on Monday, backdated to October 2022. Lawrence, originally from Dublin with a Co Meath address, was found to have acted in concert with her boyfriend, South African national Neville van der Westhuizen, in both killings. The jury accepted that Lawrence shot Mr O'Connor at their home after luring him there, and was equally culpable for Mr Keegan's death. The men's bodies were discovered bound on a lake island in the midlands after five weeks missing. Lawrence fled to South Africa following the murders and was extradited to Ireland in May 2023. During sentencing, the victims' families delivered impact statements detailing the trauma inflicted, with particular reference to Lawrence's apparent lack of remorse and her decade evading justice.