Woman feared gardai would blame her for partner's unexplained murder - as she fights for answers 18 years on

A woman has told how she feared she would be "carted off" to jail and blamed for her partner’s unexplained murder.

Sally Rodgers has been tirelessly campaigning for answers for almost 18 years - ever since her partner Michael Gallagher was brutally stabbed to death in front of her - in the kitchen of their Dublin home on January 18, 2007.

Sally told gardai that two men wearing ski masks - one armed with a knife and the other a hammer, arrived at the front door of their home in Tymonville Road, Tallaght at around 10pm - and attacked them.

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Sally says she was ordered to the ground, where she was struck with a hammer - and while she lay there the second attacker appeared to pull a knife from an umbrella - and brutally stabbed Michael in the kitchen 15 times. As the 18th anniversary of the baffling murder approaches this month - no one has ever been arrested or charged in relation to it.

Speaking exclusively to The Irish Mirror, Sally says she feared gardai did not believe her story in the beginning - and thought she might end up being blamed for Michael’s murder.

"Oh, no they didn’t (believe me)," Sally said. "I kind of can look back now and say, they say that the closest are usually the suspects and I was the only one in the house with Michael and I can understand that. But that was devastating to me, because of how much I loved Michael and Michael loved me, that I could even do that to another human being, no matter what Michael would've said or done - that wouldn’t be in my nature."

It's 14 years since the baffling death of Michael Gallagher, who was killed in a frenzied and apparently unprovoked assault in the home he shared with Sally Rodgers in Tallaght.

But Sally, who says she has "nothing to hide," insists she is much stronger now - and wants gardai to re-examine the case and find the true killer.

"At the time you’re so vulnerable and you’re imagining them carting you off and not believing you. But now I’m stronger in some ways now.

"Initially, Jesus no I was just so devastated and I thought they’re going to work it out to sort themselves.

"I’ve nothing to hide. Absolutely nothing. I just want to know why. They did not only take one life that night they took mine as well. I live with this every day," she said.

Describing the horrific events of January 18, Sally says she can still vividly remember the men entering the house and barely saying a word - other than telling her to get down on the ground. She says that she can recall one of the men going for her husband in the kitchen - as they both pleaded for their lives and told them they were in the wrong house.

"When I answered the front door that first person, the one with the hammer, was in front of me. I didn't realise there was someone behind him. They stepped in then," Sally said.

Sally Rodgers

"The only reason they came directly into the kitchen was when I answered the door I started walking backwards and I was saying to them 'you’re in the wrong house.'

"Michael must have heard me and he came over to the cooker in the kitchen and so they didn’t have to look for him. I kept saying to myself as I walked backwards: 'back door, back door'. I was afraid of turning my back because I thought he’s going to hit me in the head with that hammer and it's going to really hurt. I imagined him bringing it down on my head but I thought once he hits me I won’t feel it anymore. But I didn’t get that far because he told me to get down on the ground."

Sally was then struck several times on her body with the hammer - while the second attacker stabbed Michael and killed him.

To this day, she can still remember the masked thug bizarrely pulling what appeared to be a knife from inside the handle of an umbrella he was carrying.

"To me it was like the umbrella was up at first. That person must have closed the umbrella and then I just saw his hand going in and it (the knife) coming out. It was kind of made, like it was the handle of the umbrella. It was like he put his hand into the umbrella and took it out," she said.

Despite enquiries over the years, gardai have been unable to establish any clear motive for the killing of Michael Gallagher.

A frustrated Sally says at this point, she wants answers as to why he was killed more so than securing justice in the courts.

"I can’t believe it's been 18 years and there’s been no answers," Sally said. "I’m fighting for answers for myself and Michael. I want the gardai to even listen to me to know what I’m going through. If they give me 10-15 minutes of their time and try to do something. Surely someone can look at it.

"All I want to know is why, whatever happens after that, I know there’s no justice as such," she added. "I’ve met people who have had people murdered and there’s no justice. I mean the person never comes back to you. But you want to know why, whatever that why is."

Sally says she believes she knew Michael - and despite making enquiries, has never been able to find any evidence that he lived a secretive life - or that anyone would have any grudge against him.

"I knew Michael for five years. Now, maybe I didn’t know him. I think I did but for my brain I want to know why and then whatever happens after that to whoever did it, that’s the guards' responsibility, that’s the justice system’s responsibility," she said. "In the early days, of course you wanted someone brought up into court but now I know that doesn’t do anything for you. Your loss is still there. I can’t think about that. I just want to know why."

She also believes that the two men who called to her house that night were sent there on someone else's behalf.

"There was no shouting or arguing from them. The person that attacked Michael, there was nothing that I heard him say.

"There was none of that. To me, they were doing a job. As far as I am concerned they were sent, rather than it being a row. And it was planned, because of what they had with them. It wasn’t a kitchen knife. It was a made one. That’s the only way I can describe it," she added.

She also says she remains baffled as to why the two men came late in the evening - and that they left her alive. "I don’t know why they waited for me to come home. I honestly don’t know why they did that," she said.

In an appeal to those responsible or anyone who may know anything she said: "Just to please come forward. Let my mind rest. Go to the guards or whoever and tell us why.

"I don’t feel I’ve rested in 18 years and I just want to know why."

Anyone with information can contact Tallaght Garda station on 01-666 6000 or the Garda Confidential Line: 1800 666 111.

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