Picture Credit Brian Gavin Press 22
THE HORRIFIC nightmare that two teenage boys woke up to on May 18, 2015 is finally at an end after details of the gruesome circumstances surrounding their father’s death in Limerick were read out at a coroners court.
Ian Knight (18) and his brother Kelvin (15), sat side by side at Newcastle West coroner’s court during the inquest hearing into the deaths of Thomas Ruttle and his partner Julia Holmes.
Coroner, Antoinette Simon said she hoped the hearing would bring closure to the two boys and the extended family.
Their father’s death had become a national obsession after his body was found alongside that of the serial fraudster who had seemingly coerced him into ending his life in a bizarre suicide pact that she felt was the only way to bring an end to the international police hunt that was closing in on her.
How the well regarded Thomas Ruttle, a gifted carpenter, mechanic and beekeeper, ended up with Julia Holmes is still a mystery
She had up to 40 known aliases. She served time in a US penitentiary. She was the subject of an FBI probe. She was on the PSNI wanted list after she jumped bail on an £18,000 fraud and the Gardai were also on her trail.
The manner in which the Ruttle and Knight families endured their own nightmare was a testament to their dignity and decency.
Intimate details of the life and death of Thomas Ruttle were laid bare in the cold surrounds of a West Limerick courthouse.
Julia Holmes may have died alongside Thomas Ruttle, but she was very much on her own in the memory of those she left behind. There was no one to claim her remains. No family members attended the inquest in to her death.
They were left behind when she abandoned her only son 40 years ago when he was just an infant.
Speaking after the coroner’s verdict, the grandparents of Mr Ruttle’s teenage sons said they hoped the inquest may bring some sort of closure to what has been an horrific period in their lives.
Ted and Pauline Knight, whose daughter Lian was previously in a relationship with Thomas Ruttle, said they hoped their grandsons would be able to rebuild their lives.
“I think they were in shock and today I think clarified a lot of stuff for them. I think now they understand things a little better than they did I think, and they can get on with their lives now,” Mr Knight said.
The couple, who ran a marina in Dromineer, Co Tipperary, described Thomas Ruttle who previously worked for them, as a “quiet man”.
“He was a carpenter and he was a mechanic and he had wonderful hands. He was a very quiet unassuming man – an absolute gentleman,” he said.
When asked how Mr Ruttle had been taken in by Julia Holmes, he replied: “They owed a lot of money, we hear that, we don’t know”.
He said they never met Julia Holmes “thanks be to God”.
It is understood that Mr Ruttle had become estranged from his family when he began his relationship with the 63-year-old fraudster.
“We never wanted to meet her,” they said.
Leaving the court house the grandparents said their focus was now on their grandsons and helping them close what has been undoubtedly a very difficult chapter in their young lives.
“Hopefully this will close it for them”, Mr Knight said.
