Notorious rapist and bomb hoaxer Michael Murray taken from prison to hospital over cancer fears
Exclusive: We snapped notorious rapist Murray (53) being ushered into hospital, flanked by four prison officers.
Notorious rapist and serial bomb threat hoaxer Michael Murray has been hospitalised for suspected cancer, we can reveal.
Our exclusive pictures show menacing monster Murray (53), who recently phoned in hoax bomb threats from prison against Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Government Buildings - being escorted under heavy guard into hospital on Wednesday Flanked by four prison officers, Murray, who we understand has collapsed multiple times behind bars in recent weeks, was ushered into St James’s Hospital in Dublin, where he was expecting results over suspected cancer.
The high profile prisoner was transferred from the country’s maximum security prison in Portlaoise to Dublin, in what we understand is one of many trips to hospital in recent weeks. Sources say Murray has taken seriously ill - and was recently told he may have cancer. He is awaiting final results to confirm those fears.
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Sources say Murray “collapsed” multiple times in his cell in the last number of weeks - and there are serious concerns for his health. The development comes after he pleaded guilty just before Christmas to his latest bizarre plot - where he phoned the Samaritans charity and claimed bombs were planted in Leinster House. Murray also remains under investigation for another hoax bomb threat directed at Taoiseach Simon Harris last year.
He recently claimed to us from behind bars that he wasn’t responsible for any other incidents, following his guilty plea over bomb threats directed at government buildings last summer. “I pleaded guilty in response to the two bomb warnings on government buildings and the Oireachtas on the third and fourth of July from Portlaoise Prison.
“These are the only two I was involved in and I deny any other involvement in further threats. Even though I have been arrested for numerous bomb threats, I maintain my innocence.Any further charges brought against me in connection with the other bomb threats will be vigorously fought,” he added.
Murray has been a pain in the backside of the State for the past number of years - as he brought a matter all the way to trial before a jury ultimately convicted him of being behind disgusting bomb threats on the home of Helen McEntee. Minister McEntee’s family had to be evacuated from her home after two hoax bomb threats were made to the Samaritans charity by Murray - claiming they were planted at her home.
The depraved beast, formerly of Seafield Road, Killiney, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to one count of knowingly making a false report giving rise to an apprehension for the safety of someone else while he was imprisoned in the Midlands Prison, Portlaoise on March 7th, 2021.
He continues to claim he wasn’t behind the threat - despite openly admitting to us in a previous interview in August of that year that he was. “I am admitting to it openly. I am responsible for it. I don’t give a f*ck,” Murray told us at the time. Despite that Murray took the State through the gruelling process of an eight day trial - after pleading not guilty, despite overwhelming evidence. His trial heard that an anonymous caller phoned the Samaritans claiming to be from the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and said explosives had been planted at the home of Ms McEntee.
The court was shown videos of interviews between gardai and the accused that were conducted on March 26,2021, and in which he said a group named the ‘Criminal Revenge Group’ was behind the threat - and that he could negotiate with them for it to stop.
Murray also told gardai that it was “nothing personal” and he “wouldn’t like to see” Ms McEntee getting hurt - further claiming that the decision to make the phone call was made about a week beforehand. More recently Murray is under investigation for a similar hoax bomb threat on the home of Taoiseach Simon Harris.
He has insisted to authorities that he did not make the phone call which Mr Harris branded as “utterly unacceptable”. “I’m staying in my home. This is a clearly unacceptable situation. Even the word hoax, I'm not sure it's a fair word because I've no doubt these things are done to intimidate and to upset,” the Taoiseach said. “I have young children, and I have a wife. This is an utterly unacceptable situation. I do think, and I say this really respectfully, that all of us in our discourse, including the media, need to reflect on how we sometimes comment on these matters.
Murray, was jailed in 2013 for 15 years for falsely imprisoning, raping and sexually assaulting the woman at a Dublin apartment in February 2010 and abducting her child. His sentence was later increased to 19 years imprisonment by the Court of Appeal.
In July 2021 he was also found guilty of making death threats against Dominic McGinn SC and Tony McGillicuddy BL – the barristers who prosecuted the rape case against him in the summer of 2013. He was also convicted of harassing the woman he raped by advertising her online as a prostitute, and making similar posts about Mr McGinn and his former defence solicitor.
Mr McGinn, who had led the prosecution in Murray’s rape trial, described waking in the middle of the night on November 16, 2014, to receive a “devastating” phone call, telling the trial: “I answered it without really thinking about it. A male voice said ‘bang bang’.”
That same night, a phone call was received at Garda headquarters saying Dom McGinn was going to be shot dead. Murray admitted making the call when he was interviewed by detectives. The following February, Mr McGillicuddy, who was the junior counsel in the rape trial, was working late at his office when a blocked number rang.
A voice said: “You prosecuted a man that we know, you and Dominic McGinn, and I am telling you we are going to kill you.” Murray was sentenced to nine years in prison for the threat to kill Mr McGinn and seven years for the threat to Mr McGillicuddy.He was also sentenced to seven years for the harassment of the woman he is convicted of raping.
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