Stepfather of missing Amy Fitzpatrick says no one ever accused him to his face of killing her

Dave Mahon, who served five years in prison for the manslaughter of Amy’s brother Dean, says he is very aware of accusations on social media over the years

By: irishmirror.ie

Dec 29 2024
10
4110 Views

Stepfather of missing Amy Fitz

The stepfather of missing teen Amy Fitzpatrick says no one has ever accused him to his face of killing her.

Dave Mahon, who served five years in prison for the manslaughter of Amy’s brother Dean, says he is very aware of accusations on social media over the years.

Asked if anyone has ever said to his face that he murdered Amy, who vanished from Spain on New Year’s Day 2008, Mahon said: “No. No one really has put it as blunt as you just said it.

“Look I’m not out to change anybody’s perception. I don’t really care what people think.

“They don’t have to walk in myself or Audrey’s shoes. Let’s just hope one of their kids doesn’t go missing and then I go, ‘Jesus Christ they must be having a rough time’.”

Asked if it ever bothers him that people make unfounded claims and accusations about him and Amy’s mother Audrey on social media, Mahon responded: “No, it doesn’t really believe it or not. Of course it’s going to affect you but if I was to sit down and start suffering from depression and stuff like that, well you might as well just swallow a bullet.

“Anybody has an opinion like everyone has an a******e.

“If you said that to me 17 years ago it might be different but I’m just too old, too wide and too tired and I know what I have to do to survive in this world and Audrey does.”

Mahon, who self-published an autobiography titled How Much Pain Can Our Hearts Endure, says he identified in it four suspects in the disappearance of Amy – and he says he hopes one day someone takes it seriously.

He added: “That book tells a whole different story and I hope someone picks it up one day and says let’s look into these four people properly.”

In the book Mahon speaks about meeting with a British man who is one of the four “suspects” and asking him directly if he had any involvement in Amy’s disappearance.

Today he reveals that following that encounter he tried to track the man down again – sending a pal to his address in the UK.

He said: “I sent a few people in England over to his address. He ended up going on the run.

“Where he is from this day I don’t know. I sent a friend of mine to knock on his door. I ended up getting him on the phone and asked him to come back to Spain and he said it was too hot. I previously had a sit down with this guy.

“Without going to all the ins and outs of it the gist of it was ‘I never met Amy.’ When he rang me a month later I said, ‘You lied to me’. The guards know all this and the Guardia Civil do too.”

Amy Fitzpatrick (left) and her mother, Audrey, pictured in Spain when Amy was 12 years-old and Audrey 35 years-old.

Mahon insists the Spanish police need to investigate the four people – one of whom he believes is responsible for what happened to Amy 17 years ago.

And he told us that despite all the chatter online neither he nor Audrey – who married him after he killed her son Dean in 2013 – were ever suspects.

He said: “We’ve been saying this for 17 years, we were never suspects. In the early days the police were very good.

“But then we educated ourselves and yeah we saw sniffer dogs, helicopters and all but was it for a show? Yeah I do believe it was for a show.”

Another one of Mahon’s suspects is a convicted killer who he believes was never seriously investigated by police.

Dave said: “He was never investigated. We had meetings up in the Phoenix Park and they said, ‘Oh yeah we investigated him and he had two aliases and he was up in the north at the time’.”

Another man Mahon suspects visited their house in Spain and spent a lot of time around Amy. He added: “He was in the house alone with Amy a few times, I didn’t know that at the time. I haven’t spoken to that man in 16 years.”

These days Mahon lives with wife Audrey in Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim – and he has taken up a career in selling cars locally.

Audrey, he says, remains in poor health, adding: “She’s going in next month for an operation.

“She’s doing better than she was. She’s not well. I sell a few cars. I love doing it because you get caught up doing this that and the other and it takes your mind off it. It’s just a touch of reality.”

Speaking about whether he believes Amy could still be alive, Mahon says he is mostly certain that she is not. He added: “It’s more fairly high she’s gone but 99% not 100.

“Look, it could be she’s off on a yacht somewhere living the high life. All those things go through your mind.”

Asked if he would ever return to Spain to look for Amy again he said: “I don’t know the answer to that. It’s a tough one. My heart and Audrey’s heart is in Spain. It wouldn’t be a holiday anyway. If we got news we’d be back there in a heartbeat.”

Mahon was handed down a seven-year sentence for Amy’s brother Dean’s manslaughter – after claiming the young man ran into a knife he was holding inside his pocket, following a row over a water bottle.

He ended up serving five of those years in the Midlands Prison – during which time he suffered from and was treated for cancer. Mahon has since recovered.

Join the Irish Mirror’s breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive breaking news and the latest headlines direct to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.