Free State Hawks bust woman on Interpol’s wanted list for double murder in Ireland

AN IRISH woman who has been wanted by the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) has been located and arrested in South Africa by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in the Free State.

Ruth Lawrence, 37, was arrested on Tuesday in Bloemfontein.

According to the Free State provincial spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Christopher Singo, her arrest comes after Interpol issued a warrant of arrest.

“Her arrest comes after Interpol issued a warrant of arrest against her regarding the murder of Eoin O' Connor, 32, and Anthony Keegan, 33, who were found murdered in Ireland in 2014. After the murder of the deceased persons, the suspect then fled the country,” Singo said.

He said information was received on Wednesday, September 28, about Lawrence being in the Bloemfontein area. She was subsequently arrested in the suburb of Pellissier.

According to The Irish Sun publication, the victims were best friends.

Lawrence, originally from Clontarf in north Dublin, left for South Africa with her then boyfriend, Neville Peter van der Westhuizen, 39, in 2014.

In June, the publication ran Lawrence’s picture for the first time, reporting that she was on the run, even after her visa in South Africa had expired prior to it publishing the piece.

The publication also confirmed that the victims, who were brutally murdered and found wrapped in plastic sheeting, buried in a shallow grave on Inchicup Island, Lough Sheelin in County Meath, were not involved in any drug or criminal activity.

It said Van der Westhuizen is also wanted for the murders of O’Connor and Keegan, but is currently serving a sentence in a South African prison for a separate gruesome murder.

Lawrence is expected to appear in the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court.