Double-killer John Gallagher would not have handed himself in unless he knew he would walk free, a family member of one of his victims has said.
Gallagher handed himself in to the Central Mental Hospital earlier this month, some 12 years after he absconded.
He killed his girlfriend Anne Gillespie (18), and her mother Annie (51), in the grounds of Sligo hospital in 1988.
Anne Lafferty, Annie’s sister-in-law, said the family were told only last night that Gallagher was back in detention.
“It was a shock,” she said from their home in Ballybofey, Co Donegal.
“It’s very, very hard for all the family now. We feel that he wouldn’t have went in if he didn’t think he was going to walk free.”
Gallagher, from Lifford in Co Donegal, killed the women when he learnt Anne planned to break off their relationship.
The then 22-year-old was tried for the murder, but was found to be insane and committed to the Central Mental Hospital.
Gallagher absconded in 2000 while on day release and fled to England.
He left his hostel-type accommodation where he had been housed for a number of years and drove through the grounds on his new motorcycle, purchased months earlier with money he earned from his job in Sandyford.
The hospital has said Gallagher had always previously complied with the terms of his day parole.
On the occasions when he was permitted to leave the hospital overnight, he was said to have caused no problems and always returned the following day.
Hours after his escape, checkpoints were set up around the city. Some days after he absconded, gardaí learned he was in the Birmingham area of the UK. He continued to reside in the UK for a number of years.
Because of the verdict of insane he was never convicted, and under a loophole in the law could not be extradited back to the Republic.
However in 2003 he set up home in Strabane, just a few miles from where his victims lived in the twin towns of Ballybofey and Stranorlar. He is believed to have lived there with his partner and children.
Gardaí had repeatedly said they could not arrest Gallagher unless he crossed the border into the Republic. He was not wanted in Britain because he committed no crime there.
It is claimed that he is planning to take a legal case to be declared sane again so that he can be released.
Under the Criminal Law Insanity Act 2006, his continued detention as a patient is determined by the Mental Health Review Board.
Additional reporting: PA