- Home >
- Crime >
- Irish Crime
Episode 55: Face to face with wife killer Joe O'Reilly

Nicola Tallant, Sunday World investigations editor
When killer Joe O’Reilly bludgeoned his wife Rachel to death at their home in the Naul, Co Dublin, in October 2004 he thought he’d get away with murder.
But years after he was convicted to a life sentence for his horrific crime, nobody could have expected that the former advertising executive - who is yet again to be the subject of a new documentary to be screened on RTE - would continue to fascinate the public
So what is it about Ordinary Joe and his plot to kill seventeen years ago that is rarely far from the headlines? Why do people still want answers to his awful crime?
Nicola Tallant talks to journalist Jenny Friel, whose book 'The Suspect' is the definitive account of murder in the Naul. She tells me about her extraordinary meetings with the killer as he protested his innocence, the gruesome murder tours he took her on in his home and how his tall tales and desire for recognition eventually backfired on him in spectacular fashion.
Crime Word Podcast can be found on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Soundcloud.
Read more
- Crime World Extra: Davy Tweed - the evil monster behind the legend
- Crime World Extra: The sorry end of once-powerful gangland 'fixer' John Traynor
- Episode 51: Philip Cairns - The boy who never came home
- Episode 50: The rise of Narco terrorism in The Netherlands
- Crime World Extra: The bloody past of critically ill gang boss Cornelius Price
- Crime World Extra: The hunt for on-the-run prisoner and gangland heavyweight Johnny Mangan
- Episode 49: The murder of Sunday World journalist Marty O'Hagan - 20 years on
- Crime World Extra: The life and crimes of Kinahan Cartel mobster Graham 'The Wig' Whelan
- Episode 48: The former FBI agent on the trail of missing Annie McCarrick
- Crime World Extra: Why new DNA evidence could finally solve the 'Kerry Baby' murder case
- Crime World Extra: Anthony Flynn and the sexual assault accusations that rocked a homeless charity
- Crime World Extra - The Gangs of Limerick and the slick business approach of the new order
Today's Headlines
haul links | Gardaí suspect spotters and truck drivers being flown to France by gang to bring back drugs
'vindication' | Shooting of Derry mother Kathleen Thompson by soldier in 1971 unjustified, inquest rules
holy crepe | Starstruck Olivia Rodrigo fan meets teen singer in Cork pastry shop
Major operation | CAB seize electric cars, luxury watches and €15k in raids targeting European crime gang
Blind-ing role | Ex-New York mafia boss says Cillian Murphy perfect ‘mob guy’ in Peaky Blinders role
deal done | Manchester United on verge of €19.5m deal for Feyenoord left-back Tyrell Malacia
boxed in | Joe Joyce Jr’s crying wife was 'savagely' beaten by killer husband in garda station
Airport latest | 12 more Aer Lingus flights cancelled to and from Dublin Airport ‘due to Covid spike’
'unhenged' | Man who drove cement mixer into Leinster House to build second ‘Stonehenge’ in UK
Hang-Kin In | Exclusive pictures that prove Kin’s Frank Kinsella survives overdose