The Indo Daily: Revisited: Inside Ireland’s most notorious murders - The making of a Garda forensic expert

For over 25 years, former animator and artist John Sweetman was a regular presence on the frontline of crime scene investigation in Ireland, piecing together the fragments left behind.

Within a year of leaving Templemore College, Sweetman had applied for and won a position in the Fingerprints Section of the GTB. As he had predicted, he loved the work. He also loved, he adds with a laugh, the fact that he didn’t have to wear a uniform, that he was immediately made detective and, because of the specific nature of the work, he “got behind the tape” at crime scenes.

“There are plenty of guards who never get beyond the tape. I was getting stuck into crime-scene investigation, which was fascinating. Every scene was a learning experience. I reckoned I was in the best place in the guards.”

Sweetman was involved in examining some of the country’s most high-profile murder cases, including the Kinahan’s first gangland assassination, the horrific Hawe family tragedy, and the brutal killing of Jastine Valdez.

With his uniform now hung up for good, Sweetman is pulling back the curtain on his life in the Garda Technical Bureau.

Today on The Indo Daily Revisited, Fionnán Sheahan is joined by John Sweetman, author of “Identity: Murder, Fraud, and the Making of a Garda Forensic Expert”, to look back at a career in the GTB, and look at the details of some of Ireland most profile crime scene investigations.

*This podcast was first released in June 2024*

Today’s podcast contains descriptions of violence and adult content which might be distressing for some listeners. Please take care when listening.