The father of a man murdered and dumped in the Dublin mountains believes his son fought for his life to the very end.
The 2009 murder of Kenneth Fetherston, 26, remains an unsolved case - and gardai launched a new cold case investigation into it last year.
And now, as part of The Irish Star’s new crime podcast series Shattered Lives, in conjunction with the Irish Mirror, Kenneth’s heartbroken father speaks about his search for justice, his grief and what he believes happened in his son’s final moments.
“Ken may not have died straight away. Ken was a fighter. Ken would have fought for life," he says in our wide-ranging interview that can be heard from today.
You can listen to episode one of Shattered Lives below:
“It’s very hard to put it into words but the easiest thing for the family is to accept that Ken just died, end of story, quickly.
“I don’t think he did. I think he tried to cling onto life as much as he could have because of his relationship with his daughter.
“He absolutely adored her, and he would not give up life that easy. He would have fought for life,” he said.
Kenneth’s partial remains were discovered on Military Road at the foot of the Dublin Mountains in Rathfarnham on January 31st, 2010 - after he went missing on September 22, 2009.
It is now believed he was brutally stabbed to death by two men known to him, after a row over money on that date in September - before the callous thugs moved his body to the mountains.
And speaking about that moment Kenneth’s remains were discovered, and how he almost came upon them months before, Brian said: “It was diabolical weather. I had been out with a friend of mine searching for Ken and we were only just down the road, a couple of hundred yards away from where he had been found.
“We were saturated and the road looked like a river. It was horrendous.
“It changed to snow and then the whole place got snowed in. Ken was [later] found by a lady and she stumbled across him and my heart goes out to her because what she came across had to have been absolutely horrific.
“From September to the end of January in that type of weather, there wasn’t a whole lot left of Ken.
“There were bones and a lot of him was missing. That must have been a desperate shock for that woman."
Brian also believes his son’s killers must have planned his murder
“I would put it down as premeditated. They knew what they were gonna do. That had to be, that wasn't just something like an accident," he said.
“Whoever did this, it was a conscious decision that ‘he is not coming out of it, he is not going to be able to identify us.’”
And in a heartbreaking appeal to those he believes are covering up for his son’s killers, Brian said: “People know about this murder and either they won’t or haven’t come forward and told the truth.
“I appeal to them to come forward. Stand up and be counted. And if you really believe your buddy was innocent, let him prove it, because I’m prepared to prove he’s not."
You can hear our entire conversation with Brian on the first episode of our new podcast series, Shattered Lives which is available now.
In it Brian speaks in detail about the last moments Ken was seen, the moment he realised he was missing, what he believes happened, his thoughts on the justice system - and his message to the persons he believes are responsible.
You can listen to the trailer for Shattered Lives below:
- Shattered Lives is available now on Spotify, TuneIn, Google Podcasts and Deezer.
