The wife of murdered Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe has said part of her life "died" on the night her husband was shot and killed during an armed robbery in 2013.
Caroline Donohoe said sitting in court throughout the lengthy murder trial in Dublin was "heartbreaking" and some days "were really, really difficult."
Speaking in an interview published in the Dundalk-based newspaper The Argus, Ms Donohoe described the fallout of her husband’s killing seven years ago.
“I am still trying to pick up the pieces … People say time is a great healer but it doesn’t change the pain I feel every day. I will love him to the day I die and no one else,” Ms Donohoe said.
Aaron Brady (29), Crossmaglen, Co Armagh, was convicted earlier this month of the capital murder of Det Garda Donohoe, who was fatally shot during an armed robbery at Lordship Credit Union, Bellurgan, Co Louth, in January 2013.
“Part of my life died that night, part of who I was. I became Adrian’s widow - I hate that word, I’m his wife. I lost who I was, people see me differently,” she told The Argus.
The pair had met in the same class in Templemore Garda College in 1994, and were later both posted to Dundalk Garda station. They went on to marry and had two children, Amy and Niall, who are both now in their early teens.
Brady, who faced charges in Ireland after he was deported from the US in May 2017, showed “no remorse” during the trial, Ms Donohoe said. “It was very difficult to look at him,” she said.
Ms Donohoe said she has to drive past Lordship Credit Union whenever she travels to Dundalk. “Some days I go past and I will spend the whole day crying as it brings it all back,” she said.
“My life has totally changed, if I could only put the clock back … But we can’t do that.”
She described her late husband as “the love of my life,” and added: “I feel as though he is with me all the time, he’s a presence in our home.”
Following his murder Ms Donohoe did not return to work with the Garda, instead focusing on raising her two children.
She paid tribute to both the jury and the investigating gardaí who pursued the case over several years.
"I'm so thankful to Supt Gerry Curley and the investigation team in Dundalk. They have been unbelievable. They told me from the beginning that they would stick with me and they did," she said.
The jury in the case were “amazing people,” who she thanked for “sticking with the trial.”
