The shocking abduction of an Irish racing legend | Forensic Files

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notes for this episode on your app or on our website [Music] in 1920 the country of ireland consisted
of two self-governing territories northern ireland and southern ireland both of which belonged to the united
kingdom following the war of independence and to the anglo-irish treaty of 1921 southern ireland declared independence
from the uk and became the republic of ireland while northern ireland remained under british
rule this partitioning caused the great conflict between the two regions with irish nationalists in the republic
wanting all of ireland to be reunified as an independent country while unionists in the north didn't
agree many inhabitants of northern ireland were descended from english ancestors
and identified more as british instead of irish hence their loyalty to the uk the fact that the unionists were mainly
of protestant background while the nationalists were predominantly catholic only furthered the divide
in 1968 a period known as the troubles began marking a battle for control between those who thought
northern ireland should be returned to the republic and to those who felt it should remain
under british rule leading the charge was the irish republican army or ira also known as the provisional
irish republican army the ira was an illegal paramilitary organisation whose primary goal was to force the
united kingdom to negotiate a withdrawal from northern ireland they sought to bring about unification
of ireland through any means including violence and terrorism when the troubles began fighting between
the ira and british soldiers from northern ireland was at an all-time high over the years the ira
bombed political and economic targets across northern ireland and england using guerrilla tactics in both
urban and rural areas years of extreme protesting and violence had culminated in low morale and
widespread despair throughout ireland and the economy was in trouble resulting in high unemployment rates and
mass emigration yet one industry that continued to thrive was horse racing which provided twenty
thousand jobs and detracted large sums of money from overseas in 1980 an irish racehorse named
suregar took the industry by storm becoming a racing champion and national treasure the irish public
adored shergar and watching him achieve great success provided a much needed distraction from the troubles he became
a symbol of hope and possibility in an otherwise bleak and trying time [Music] [Music]
shergar was born on march 3 1978 at a private stud farm in the irish county of kildare his father was a british-born
thoroughbred racehorse named great nephew and his mother was charmaine a thoroughbred who had produced many
other successful racehorses throughout her breeding career shergar was a quintessential
thoroughbred he was tall and lean with an athletic build ideal for racing he had a light brown
coat with a black mane and tail and four white socks on his legs running down his nose was a wide white
stripe known as a blaze and one of his eyes was blue a phenomenon called a walleye
some horse racing professionals believed that horses with a walleye are predisposed to being skittish and
temperamental but trainers who worked with sugar dismissed this theory finding him laid back and easy to train
the shahoon stud farm was owned by prince kareem a muslim leader better known in the west
as his highness agar khan iv as the 49th spiritual leader of the shia ismaili muslims
the agar khan is believed to be a direct descendant of the prophet muhammad shia islam has an estimated 15 million
followers and the agar khan is considered to be their king and spiritual guide in 1957
he inherited his position from his grandfather agar khan iii at the age of 20 and grew up to be a
business magnate humanitarian worker and a racehorse breeder during his time as leader the agar khan
has been celebrated for his exceptional contributions to human development and has received
numerous awards and honorary degrees from institutions throughout the world he is also a
billionaire who has been described by forbes magazine as one of the world's 10 richest royals
over the years the agar khan has amassed assets such as valuable stud farms hundreds of
award-winning racehorses an exclusive italian yacht club a private island in the bahamas
several estates and two jets sure was trained to be a racehorse from a young age
and grew up to become one of the agakhan's greatest success stories known for his nice temperament and for
having a certain elegance in the way he moved he was more relaxed and affectionate
than the average thoroughbred which appealed to his owners and the public who nicknamed him ireland's pegasus
one of shergar's most endearing features was that when he galloped at full pace his tongue lulled out the side of his
mouth which one racing commentator said made him look like a 10 year old solving
a tricky maths problem shurgar's trainer was michael stout a barbados native hired by the agar khan
in 1978 regarded as an up-and-comer michael had worked as an assistant to famous british
horse trainer pat rowan and already had some big wins under his belt he began training sugar at the beach
hurst stables in the english town of newmarket but initially saw nothing special about him viewing him as
somewhat immature in august to 1980 jockey leicester pigott began taking sugar out for
morning rides and the two quickly formed a bond lester was one of only two jockeys
whoever rode sure gar the other being walter swinburne when racing sugar the two jockeys
dressed in the racing colours of the agar khan an emerald green cap and jacket with red
epaulettes sugar's racing career began at the crease plate in newbury on september 19 1980 when he was two and
a half years old he was the favorite to win at odds of 11 to eight and after initially keeping behind he
ultimately won by two and a half lengths this style of racing became his signature with sure
often sitting in third or fourth place until he sped up and ultimately overtook the winning
horses in the final straight between 1980 and 1981 he went on to win six of the eight major
races he competed in including the guardian newspaper classic trial chester vars the epsom derby the irish
derby and the king george vi than queen elizabeth stakes these collective wins were considered to
be tremendous achievements in the racing world and as suregas reputation and prestige
grew so did his popularity horse racing enthusiast richard bearline described his appeal in the guardian
newspaper writing to say sure typifies the perfect racehorse would not be overstating the
case his powers of acceleration are exceptional one or two experts have told me they
consider sugar the best horse they've ever seen in 1981 sure was named european horse of
the year and he soon became a household name in ireland and england even amongst to those who didn't follow
racing on july 9 1981 the agar khan announced he would be keeping sure in ireland in order to use him as a
stard unlike race winnings which can be inconsistent and unpredictable putting a racehorse to stud provides a
steady income and the agar khan expected to breed ten of his mares to sugar each breeding season the agar khan
wanted to syndicate sugar which meant selling shares so that ownership of the horse would be split
between several individuals with 40 shares up for grabs the agar khan revealed he
would be keeping six shares and selling the remaining 34 at the price of 250 000 pounds each
the equivalent of around one and a half million australian dollars in today's money
anyone who knew anything about horse racing wanted in on the action and the shares were quickly snapped up
in total the syndicate invested 10 million pounds in sugar which was a record at the time for a
stallion at stard it was reported that the agar khan could have made more money by shipping sugar
to the united states where some breeding syndicates were prepared to pay up to 40 million us dollars
however there had been a recent outbreak of a highly infectious equine venereal disease
known as contagious sequined metritis resulting in international travel restrictions
in addition the agar khan wanted sugar to remain in ireland because he was so well loved by the
public and provided a respite for the tension between the republic and the northern ireland owning shares
in sugar was considered to be a great privilege and it was up to each shareholder to
organise their own insurance each of their individual policies ensured sugar for death
caused by accident illness and disease but only some of the policies covered theft
trainer michael stout and the agar khan wanted to race sure in the october 1981 french pre-de lark
de triomphe also known simply as the ark to gain entry sugar first needed to succeed in a prep race
so it was decided he would compete in the saint ledger stakes at doncaster in england
it was the final race for the season and to the last time sure would race as a three-year-old
although he was a favorite he finished in fourth place with his poor performance attributed to
the fact that it had rained heavily the previous evening this loss meant that racing in the ark
was out of the picture the agar khan didn't want any further losses impacting on shergar's
desirability as a stud and it was therefore decided that he be retired at the peak of his short
yet illustrious racing career to celebrate shurgar's achievements a public celebration was held in the irish
town of newbridge with the agakhan parading sugar in front of crowds along the main street
while the plaque band played at the time of shergar's retirement he was the most
valuable stud horse in ireland making the agar khan the leading breeder it was expected that
sure would produce many offspring who would be equally successful racehorses he was taken to the bali mani stud farm
in newbridge where he was kept in a four-stalled stallion barn like most other horse studs in ireland
at the time bali manny had very few security measures in place the entrance consisted of a five-bar
wooden gate that could be unlocked from the outside and led to the stables where nameplates
identified each of the horses the staff noted sugar was a very agreeable horse with a good
temperament he was mainly looked after by 53 year old horse groom jim fitzgerald who lived with his wife
and children down a quiet tree-lined street a short walk from bali manny jim's proximity to the stud farm was
intentional as his role required him to be available to attend to the horses at any and all times
he had a lifelong love of horses and had started working for the agar khan as an
assistant when he was just 16. jim took his job very seriously and spent each day talking to the horses
immaculately cleaning their stables and grooming them thoroughly when the 1982 breeding season arrived
sugar was studded out at the cost of 70 000 pounds per day the equivalent of around
118 000 australian dollars in today's money by the end of the year he had fathered
37 foals and was booked to breed with 55 mares in the 1983 season which was due to commands on february 14.
one week prior on tuesday february 8th a large horse auction hosted by goth sales took place
in the village of kill located 22 kilometers south west of balimani the auction attracted visitors from all
over ireland with the typically quiet and peaceful area becoming a hive of activity
as people traffic and horse floats milled around well into the night as it was also
nearly the breeding season there were a greater number of horse floats around than usual
as mares were moved to various stud farms february 8 was one of the coldest days
ireland had experienced that year but was otherwise a regular day for sugar at the stud farm
in the morning he was taken out for exercise and later returned to his stable in the
afternoon by jim fitzgerald that evening jim went home to eat dinner with his wife madge and to their six children
the youngest of whom was five years old at 8pm jim returned to the ballymani stables to check that the horses were
comfortable and settled the night was cold and foggy but everything seemed to be in order
so jim walked back home at around 8 40 jim was upstairs when he heard knocking at his front door
which was unusual for that time of night jim headed downstairs to see who it was
but his pre-teen son bernard had already opened the door standing there was a tall man
dressed like the guarder the name of the irish police service with a balaclava pulled over his head
given how cold it was outside it wasn't out of the ordinary to see a guarder officer wearing a balaclava
the men asked the bernard is he in which bernard took to mean his father he turned to call for jim but as he did
so the man hit bernard across his lower back striking him to the ground by the time jim made it downstairs the
man had pinned bernard to the floor with one hand in the other he held a pistol which he
pointed towards jim at this point two more balaclava-clad pistol-wielding men entered the house and pointed their guns
at the family another two assailants then burst through the door and ushered the children to a bedroom
while the other four took jim and his wife madge to the kitchen jim noted that the men were all very
calm and organized and referred to one another using the code word creswell it was obvious to him that the attack
had been carefully planned one of the men told jim they had come for sure and demanded to be taken to him
they told jim to get his code and then marched him over to balimani at gunpoint while the other two armed men stayed at
the house to keep an eye on the family at 8 50 pm jim and his attackers arrived at the stables
jim believed that horses could sense the emotions of people they were familiar with
and did his best to stay calm so as not to alarm sugar it seemed to work as sugar appeared relaxed and was easily
led from his stable still holding jim at gunpoint the men then demanded that he load sugar into a
horse float that was attached to a nearby car at this point jim noticed that the men were carrying
shortwave radios he also noted that one of the men seemed to have experience handling horses
as he was more confident with his movements and less wary of sugar than the others by nine o'clock
jim had successfully loaded sugar into the float some of the thieves then got into the
car and drove away as jim watched helplessly the remaining men took jim back to his
house and kept him under watch until 10 pm at which point three of them loaded him
into the back of a van and drove off jim was ordered to lie down with a coat over his face
his captors then drove over the rough country roads at high speeds repeatedly warning jim that he and his
family would face a violent ramifications if they went to the police after approximately two hours they
dropped a gym off at the side of a road about 48 kilometers northeast of bali many
and gave him directions to the nearest town called kilcock the thieves told jim they wanted two million pounds for
sure safe return and would be using the code name king neptune for upcoming ransom
negotiations after telling jim not to look back they drove away into the night terrified jim walked to killcock
arriving just before midnight and pounded on the door of a chinese restaurant until the owners let him in
they allowed him to use their phone and jim called his brother dez fitzgerald who drove out to give him
a lift back to ballymany by the time he arrived home the armed man had a left and his family
were waiting up shaken but unharmed at 12 10 a.m on wednesday february 9 as jim was trying to come to terms with
what had happened belfast the based horse breeders jeremy and judy maxwell were awoken by a phone
call judy answered and a male on the other line introduced himself as king neptune saying
we've got shergar if you want proof we'll send you his ear thinking it was a prank call
judy somewhat facetiously asked the man to take good care of the horse she then hung up
and went back to sleep without giving the call much more thought 20 minutes later at 12 30 a.m the phone
rang at the bbc television office in belfast the employee who answered heard the
voice of a well-educated sounding man with a southern irish accent he told the employee that sugar had been
kidnapped and the captors were only willing to negotiate with britain's three best racing journalists derek thompson
john oxy and peter kampling he ordered that the trio be at the europa hotel in central belfast by the evening of
thursday february 10 and said that on future calls he would identify himself as arco which was the name of another
famous racehorse meanwhile at belly manny jim fitzgerald was contemplating what to do next
at 1 15 am he called his boss giladrion who was the stud manager for the yaga khan's
irish stars and told him what had happened gila wanted to phone the gada but jim
warned him not to so gila called the agakhan in switzerland instead unable to get a hold of him he then
called suregas vet and shareholder stan cosgrove the two men drove to bali many to speak
with the gym in person and to confirm that sure really had been stolen stan cosgrove soon phoned his friend
captain sean berry the manager of the irish thoroughbred breeders association and told him what had happened
captain berry later told author milton c toby that in his business the telephone call
from stan cosgrove was quote the equivalent of the director of the louvre in paris being told that the mona lisa
had been stolen at 1 45 am racing journalist derek thompson awoke to a phone call in
his london hotel room it was a reporter from london's press association who advised derek that sure had been
kidnapped and the captors had asked to speak with him personally derek didn't believe this at first but
the reporter repeatedly told him that it was not a joke derek eventually agreed to accompany the
other two racing journalists john oxy and peter campling to belfast the following evening
to negotiate shergar's release by 4 am gila drayon had a managed to get hold of the agar khan in switzerland
gillar asked whether they should simply pay the ransom quietly without getting the police
involved but the agar khan instructed him to notify the guarder he reasoned that there were too many
shareholders involved with sugar for him to make a decision on his own and it was inevitable that the garder
and press were to learn about the theft anyway the agar khan also said that there was
no guarantee that sure would be returned safely even if they paid the ransom and that paying could set a precedent
for further thefts of irish racehorses by the time the guardo were notified shergar had been missing
for almost eight hours this was enough time for the thieves to have taken him anywhere within
ireland or even abroad tracking him would be especially difficult as the goths sales horse auction that
was held the previous day meant there were a large number of horse floats traveling through the country
because of the tensions between the republic of ireland and northern ireland all the main gada
stations had radio contact with one another this meant that if officials had been
notified earlier stations further away could have put up roadblocks and possibly found sure within hours of
the kidnap yet by the time the kidnapping was reported the area was too large to cover leading
many to believe that the search was doomed from the start chief superintendent james murphy was
assigned to lead the case nicknamed the spud he was a tall slim man with a strong
irish accent and a dark sense of humor who always wore a three-piece suit with a black
felt trilby hat similar to a fedora by midday the media had gotten hold of the story
and to news reports of sugar's theft were being broadcast around the world journalists flocked to new bridge and
the small town was soon swimming with reporters speaking on the steps of the new bridge
gada station chief murphy told the gathering reporters that he wasn't overly concerned about the case
because quote a stallion cannot be kept by people who are not well up in the horsey field
and who do not know how to keep the animal he openly admitted that the police had
no leads but ordered that all irish stud farms and stables be searched immediately
40 detectives were sent to new bridge to work on the case and help with the search while the head
of the goddess murder squad was also assigned to the investigation the international criminal police
organization more commonly known as interpol were contacted due to the possibility that sugar had
been smuggled out of the country investigators inquired about any possible security footage
but the owners of bali mani stud had considered installing a security system an unnecessary expense as it didn't seem
possible that a racehorse could ever be stolen balimani did have one cctv camera inside
the main stable where sugar was housed but it was broken and didn't even have a tape inside
initial search efforts uncovered no sign of sugar but the gada did find caches of ira
weapons hidden throughout the irish countryside which resulted in the ira losing many of
their safe houses at 405 on wednesday afternoon one of the thieves phoned to bali
manny's starred giladrion answered but as he was french and not fluent in english he struggled
to understand the caller's demands the caller eventually became frustrated and hung up just over an hour and a half
later at 5 45 the thief phoned back this time giller asked him to speak slowly which he did the caller introduced
himself as king neptune and demanded two million pounds for sure safe release with the ransom to be paid
in 50 and 100 pound notes he also requested a phone number in france that he and his men could contact instead of
making calls to irish landlines that could be traced gila gave him the phone number for the
agakon's office in paris when word of the ransom demand reached sugar's shareholders they thought it was
odd that the thieves had demanded to be paid in 100 pound notes as such notes didn't exist
this led some of them to believe that shergar's theft was more a publicity stunt than a genuine kidnapping for
ransom regardless the shareholders hired a company named control risks group limited to
handle the negotiations on their behalf and a negotiator was sent to the ugga khan's office in paris
in anticipation of further incoming calls the following day of thursday february
10 racing journalists derek thompson john oxy and peter campling were taken to belfast's europa hotel
as the thieves had requested at the time the hotel was informally used as a home base for foreign
journalists which coupled with its central location had made it the ideal target for
bombings by the ira the building had earned the undesirable reputation of being the most
bombed hotel in europe a fact that made the three journalists wary as they entered its lobby
other reporters who had caught wind of the story had already gathered outside the building
within minutes of their arrival a message over the loudspeaker announced that there was a call for derrick
thompson derek took the phone and the caller on the other line told him he was being
watched he was then instructed to go to the farmhouse owned by horse breeders jeremy and judy maxwell the couple who
had received a phone call from king neptune in the early hours after sugar was stolen
saying that sugar had been kidnapped and that his ear could be sent as proof the maxwell's farmhouse was located 48
kilometers south of belfast in the town of down patrick after hanging up the phone
derrick immediately updated the garter and the europa hotel's chief of security as well as his fellow reporters john oxy
and peter campling the three racing reporters discussed how they could leave the building without
being noticed to prevent the other journalists from following and possibly compromising
sugar's safety eventually they snuck out via the hotel's kitchen and into a waiting car
when they arrived at the farmhouse the gada were already on site judy maxwell advised that she had just
received another phone call from the thieves who this time changed the code name to
balco referencing another well-known racehorse they had also reduced the ransom to just
forty thousand pounds equaling one thousand pounds for each share in sugar at 8 30 pm the phone rang at the maxwell
farmhouse and derek thompson answered it the caller used the code word acabalco and repeated the forty thousand pound
ransom demand he had given to judy earlier he ordered that the demands be broadcast
over the bbc evening news before abruptly hanging up leaving the gata with insufficient time
to trace the core captain sean berry who had been contacted by vet stan cosgrove
in the early hours following suregas kidnapping was eager to help in any way he could
he contacted the members of his organisation the irish thoroughbred breeders association
and they agreed to sponsor a reward of 50 000 pounds for safe return the reward was advertised in irish
newspapers alongside a phone number for the office of the irish equine center which the public could call with any
information captain berry said his organization was prepared to pay a higher reward if
necessary although he didn't publicise a specific amount stating our association
represents all horse breeders and we decided on this course of action as a gesture on behalf of the entire breeding
industry it is vital that shergar be found safe and dwell de gada agreed to captain berry's plan
on the condition that they were allowed to tap the phones in his home and office in case someone decided to
contact him there instead within hours of the reward being publicised calls started to come through
some were from animal lovers concerned about sugar's welfare with one caller asking if specific
information on how to feed and care for sugar could be published in a local newspaper
in response captain berry organised for a veterinarian to appear on irish television
to provide detailed care instructions directed at suregas captors in addition to these well-meaning calls
captain berry received several threats with one caller threatening to burn his house down
if he continued to search for sure these calls were usually terminated quickly after captain berry told the caller that
the phones were being recorded by the guarder chief superintendent james murphy continued to provide
updates to the media from the steps of the new bridge garda station due to his dark sense of humor and to
the vague answers he gave many members of the press believed he wasn't taking the
crime seriously the truth was that chief murphy knew more about the case than he
let on and simply chose not to share the information with the media but his secrecy added to the speculation
that he didn't know what he was doing the press dubbed him inspector oclusso after the bumbling detective from the
pink panther movies and some reporters turned up to press conferences wearing a similar hat to his
trademark trilby as a way of poking fun at him at 1 15 am on the morning of friday
february 11 the phone rang at the maxwell's farmhouse in downpatrick it was answered by journalist derek
thompson who was still there with the gada the caller introduced himself as king
neptune and told derek that if he didn't come up with the 40 000 pound ransom money by 9 am
sure would be shot derek had been advised by the guarder to try and keep the caller on the line for
as long as possible so they could trace the call and he managed to drag out the conversation for roughly three minutes
this should have been enough time to trace it but when derek hung up he was told that the officer responsible
for tracing calls had finished his shift at midnight leaving nobody to fill his role
this error would turn out to be one of the biggest mistakes the guarder made during their
investigation and they received considerable backlash as a result six hours later at 7am the phone rang
once more at the maxwell's farmhouse and derrick answered yet again this time the caller said that there had
been an accident and sure was now dead when asked where his body could be recovered from
the caller hung up the gada had been theorizing whether two different groups had been making the
ransom calls they suspected that those made to the agar khan's office in paris were legitimate while the calls to the
maxwells and to the journalists were intentional hoaxes designed to confuse the situation and by
time for further negotiations and more media attention this latest call strengthened their
theory and the forty thousand pound ransom demand and news of sugar's death were considered to
be false in a press conference chief murphy told reporters that he was regretfully no closer to solving the
case than he had been the previous day horse groom jim fitzgerald was still reluctant to speak to the police
at first he had been in such a state of shock that he was unable to recall any of the details of the attack but by
this point he was simply fearful of the threats the thieves had made against his family
although chief murphy didn't push him to speak jim did have one message for suregas
captors he asked them to feed suregas some carrots as they were his favorite food and would
cheer him up at nine o'clock that evening another call was placed to the agar khan's
office in paris the caller demanded the two million pound ransom again but the negotiator said he didn't have
the money because there were 35 shareholders he had to consult with the negotiator also asked for proof that
sugar was still alive which the caller agreed to provide before ordering that the money be ready
by nine the following night or sure would be killed an hour later at 10 pm another call came
through to the paris office by this point the media were reporting on the claim that sure
had been shot made during the phone call to the maxwell's house that morning the
caller told the negotiator that the news was false and that he could prove sugar was
alive he gave instructions that someone who wasn't associated with the bali many
starred needed to travel to the crofton airport hotel in dublin once they arrived at the hotel
reception they were to use the alias johnny logan the name of a famous irish pop singer at
which point they would receive proof that shergar was still alive the caller warned the negotiator not to
tell the guarder about this plan ignoring the thieves request to send someone who wasn't associated with bally
manny the owner syndicate chose shergar's vet stan cosgrove to attend the crofton
airport hotel [Music] they also tipped off the gada who sent special armed officers to surround
the premises at nine o'clock on the morning of saturday february 12 stan arrived at the hotel and asked
have you got a message here for johnny logan the staff at reception said no unsure of what to do next stan ate
breakfast at the hotel while waiting for further news at 11 15 a.m one of the thieves called
the agar khan's office in paris furious they had been unable to deliver the proof of life to the crofton airport
hotel because the building was surrounded by police officers the caller threatened to kill shergar as
well as the negotiator if they were caught by the gada four hours later at 3 12 pm the thieves
phoned paris once again they accused the negotiator of stalling for time and said he had one hour to get the two
million pound ransom together or sure would be killed when the negotiator said the
shareholders were concerned that sure was already dead he was told that proof of
life could be found at the rostenary hotel in the town of drogheda 49 kilometers
north of dublin a guarder officer went to the rostenary hotel reception where he was given a polaroid photo
it was a close-up shot of the horse's head taken next to a copy of the irish news
newspaper dated the previous day of february 11 1983. vet stan cosgrove was called to the new
bridge gada station to examine the photograph he was certain the horse in the picture
was sure but as it didn't show the horse's body he couldn't tell for sure whether or not
it proved that sure was still alive furthermore as the newspaper was from the day prior
it was possible that sure had been killed after the photo was taken details of the photo were withheld from
the press with the gada denying that any such polaroid existed at 5 pm the thieves once again
called the aggir khan's paris office demanding that the ransom be paid the negotiator said the shareholders
wanted to see a full-bodied photo of sugar standing up to prove he was still alive
this angered the caller leading him to threaten quote you may not pay for this horse
but you will definitely pay for the next one when you see what we do to this horse before hanging
up the agar khan still wanted to buy more time as it was against his principles to give
in and pay the ransom the irish and british governments agreed with his decision to withhold payment
confirming that under no circumstances would they assist with facilitating the money
five and a half hours later at 10 40 pm the thieves called the paris office to yet again
ask for the ransom the negotiator repeated the shareholder's demand for further proof of life to which the
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from the thieves or any developments in the case on tuesday february 15 one week after
sugar was stolen a man named patty mccann was walking through county tyrone in northern
ireland when he came across a horse's dismembered hinder leg that had been crudely severed at the hip
joint paddy was a horse enthusiast and could tell by looking at the limb that it
belonged to a thoroughbred that had been wearing professionally shod horseshoes he immediately thought of sugar and
reported the discovery to police authorities seized the lag but as it didn't have white sock markings on its
hoof like all four of sugar's limbs did it was confirmed not to be his that same day
the gata released the description of three of the suspects although jim fitzgerald hadn't seen
their faces due to the balaclavas they'd been wearing another groom at bali manny had
witnessed some men hanging around the stud farms entrance and was able to provide further
information on their facial features one of the suspects was labeled as a jockey type
being five foot three inches tall and having a slight build he was aged in his mid-20s with a dark
complexion hair combed down across his forehead and was wearing jeans and a denim jacket
based on this description some journalists surmised that he may have previously worked with
sugar at the stud farm adding to jim fitzgerald's theory that one of the thieves had appeared proficient at
handling horses the second suspect was in his early twenties was five foot seven inches tall and had
a medium build he had dark hair parted to the left a large prominent nose and was wearing a brown jacket
the third suspect was five foot eight of medium build and undetermined age and had been
wearing a dark jacket and pants with a hat that had a shiny peak he was described as resembling a guarder
officer or bus driver based on these descriptions the press referred to the three suspects
as the jockey the nose and the guard the gada technical bureau used the descriptions to create photo fit images
of the suspects although they were only intended for use by the gata two of the three photos were leaked to
the media with one published in the irish independent newspaper when a reporter asked chief murphy
whether the release of the images had resulted in any clues he responded we have got a good
description but what we haven't got is a clue journalists used this quote repeatedly
to highlight how botched the investigation was as part of their investigations the gada
followed up on a two-way radio call that had been intercepted on sunday february
6 two days before sugar was stolen the call had taken place between four men in county galway
on the west coast of the republic of ireland one of the men spoke with a cultured
english accent while the other three spoke with irish accents they used short phrases as though they
were speaking in code and mentioned an orange car and a road that was bad for a box presumably
meaning a horse float suspecting the call might have had something to do with the plans to
transport sure the gada conducted a thorough search of county galway but to no avail
on wednesday february 16 the gada released a witness description of a horse float that was spotted leaving the
ballyman he starred at 8 30 pm on the night of shergar's disappearance it was described as either a light blue
or light green two-horse trailer that was possibly manufactured by a company called
rice it was in rough condition with no license plate or working lights and was being towed by either a brown
hillman hunter or a vauxhall following the release of this information investigators were optimistic that the
float would be identified but their hopes were quashed when no leads arose later that day chief murphy stepped down
from handling the press briefings instead assigning the task to superintendent noel anderson
an experienced spokesperson and a senior press officer although he never confirmed why it was
likely that chief murphy stepped down due to the media's constant ridicule on saturday february 19 a loaded
magazine cartridge from an automatic rifle was found near the entrance of bali manny starred
it was from astaya daimler hook an austrian submachine gun that was rare in ireland
but known to be used by the southern command branch of the ira the gada were unable to lift any
fingerprints off the magazine or link it to an owner and ultimately decided to withhold the discovery from
the public the days continued to pass without any further contact from suregas captors
the shareholders tried to re-establish communication with the thieves via the media
but their attempts were unsuccessful they believed that sure would eventually be released unharmed
as they couldn't imagine that a fellow irishman would kill an innocent horse and beloved national
treasure however weeks went by without any leads or breakthroughs in the case until the investigation and media
reports started slowing down the public were eager to help with 150 000 people joining the search to check
fields farms and stables the gata followed every tip-off they received searching canal banks travellers
caravans and properties only to find out that several of the tip-offs were hoaxes crafted by
vengeful neighbors [Music] in a bid to gather information detectives interviewed more than 100
jockeys from ireland and england with the gada clarifying that these interviews had
nothing to do with one of the suspects being described as a jockey from an economic point of view the theft
of sugar was a huge problem for ireland not only did the horse racing industry provide 20 000 jobs
within the country but it also generated lots of money from international sources with the crime casting doubt on
the safety of the industry the irish economy was at risk of impact chief murphy told the press quote
if any harm happens to that horse it is going to do the industry an amount of anguish in this country and
for that reason alone i would ask the kidnappers to return the horse safely as the guarder grew increasingly
desperate they sought the help of around 50 clairvoyance which drew further ridicule from the press
a majority of the psychics believed that sure would be found west of the river shannon
in county galway which investigators believed was too compelling to ignore they searched this area with the help of
several psychics but nothing was found in early march a man named patrick kelly recognised the description of the horse
float used in shergar's kidnapping as his own float that was stolen in county louth
near the border of northern ireland he provided photos of the float and the jim fitzgerald positively identified it
as the one used by the thieves to transport shergar what seemed like a big breakthrough
ultimately led to nowhere as patrick kelly was unable to provide any further insight into who might have
stolen the float the hotline that had been set up by captain sean berry manager of the irish thoroughbred
breeders association remained active and on march 16 he received a call from a man with a
cultured irish accent who requested a 250 000 pound reward to begin negotiations for safe return
captain berry agreed to get the money together and the caller said he would be in touch again soon
using the code name rugby this code name concerned captain berry as he was a huge rugby fan
and became paranoid that the caller may have been monitoring his personal life or watching his family
[Music] he notified the guarder and on march 24 rugby called again captain berry told him the reward money
would only be paid if he received conclusive evidence that sure was still alive to which rugby said he would be in touch
captain berry and his wife were scheduled to depart for a two-week holiday in the canary islands
but they told the garda they'd be happy to cancel the trip in order to stay home to continue
negotiations the garda urged the couple to carry on with their plans and while they were on
holiday no further calls came through this added to captain barry's suspicion that he was under surveillance
the next phone call from rugby came on the morning of may 2 1983. this time he directed captain
berry to drive to the k-deen hotel in new bridge near bali manistad to wait for an incoming phone call
for a mr davies captain berry did as he was told with undercover guarder officers also
positioning themselves inside the hotel at 11am the phone rang for mr davies and captain barry answered as directed
rugby instructed him to return to the hotel the following afternoon with 250 000
pounds in cash at which point he would be taken to see sure captain berry went home
and obtained a blood testing kit from a local lequin dna testing facility he returned
to the hotel on the afternoon of may 3 where the phone rang at approximately two o'clock
this time rugby advised captain barry to travel to a pay phone and killed there at 9pm on may 5
where arrangements would be made to take him to sugar undercover officers noted a man who had
also been at the hotel the day prior was watching captain barry closely which confirmed their suspicion that he was
under surveillance they warned him to cease the negotiations if he feared his family was
in danger but captain berry wanted to persevere in the hopes of shergar's return
at 8 57 pm on may 5 he went to the phone booth and killed air and waited for the call
rugby rang one hour later asking captain berry if he would be willing to be held
with sure while positive identification was made and the reward money was handed over
captain berry agreed but said that vet stan cosgrove would have to accompany him to facilitate the necessary identity
testing rugby said he would check and call back shortly but captain berry waited and waited and
no further calls came through he never heard from rugby again and the reward remained
unclaimed shortly after this a member of the gata named officer kenyans contacted stan cosgrove wanting to
introduce him to dennis minogue a well-known horse dealer with an interesting story to tell
dennis told stan that intermediaries of sure gas captors had shown him a photo of sugar
then placed a hood over his head and drove him to an unknown location in the irish countryside where he saw
suregar alive stan asked to dennis if 80 thousand pounds would be enough to have
sugar returned safely with no questions asked dennis agreed to speak to the intermediaries who in turn
agreed to the deal through dennis the thieves directed stan to place 80 000 pounds cash into the booth of dennis's
car along with a 10 thousand pound finders fee for dennis they were then instructed to drive the
car to the village of artna crusher in county clare and leave it in a specified remote location there
the thieves would remove the money and replace it with instructions on how to retrieve sugar
officer kenyans agreed to accompany stan and dennis in the hopes of catching the thieves in
a sting operation the trio followed the instructions leaving dennis's car in the specified
location with 90 000 pounds cash in the booth and then left the scene they returned a short while later and
found that the money had been taken but there were no instructions regarding getting sugar back
upon realising that the whole plot had been a setup stan was convinced officer kenyans had
been involved from the get-go officer kenyans was investigated by the guarder and eventually sacked for carrying out
under-the-table police operations dennis minogue remained adamant that the horse he'd been shown
was shergar and opinions differ as to whether he and officer kenyans were part of the
setup or had been fooled themselves the months continued to pass with no major breakthroughs
by september 1983 mares that had been lined up to breed with sugar in the 1984 breeding season
began arriving at bali many stard where they were to be boarded until definitive news
regarding sugar emerged from the outset of the investigation de gada suspected that the ira
was involved in stealing sugar throughout the 1970s the ira had started receiving
weapons and training from international supporters including sympathisers from the united
states libya and palestine however their campaigns were costly and the amount of money coming in via donations
and illegal activities wasn't enough to fund their violent protests equipment weapons and explosives
by the 1980s the fbi was conducting an ongoing investigation into american support of the ira
which meant there had been a halt on weapons procured from the usa consequently the ira was in financial strife and
began resorting to kidnapping for ransom as a means of income with varying levels of success
in october 1981 the ira had kidnapped wealthy supermarket executive ben dunn after he pulled over in his car
to offer assistance at a staged accident ben was held hostage for six days while
negotiations were made for a one and a half million pound ransom to be paid his family wanted to pay the ransom but
were blocked by the gada prompting ben's property manager to pay instead to secure ben's safe release
[Music] this kidnapping set a crucial precedent as the ira earned a lucrative ransom without any
consequences in august 1983 six months after sugar was stolen seven armed ira members stormed the south of dublin
house of galen weston the wealthy president of the canadian supermarket chain intending to kidnap him for ransom
the gada had already received the tip-off that galen might be a target and were waiting inside to arrest them
a gunfight ensued with five of the perpetrators taken into custody for attempted kidnapping while
two escaped investigators believed that these were the same individuals who had stolen shergar
but they denied any involvement with the case [Music] three months later the ira abducted one
of galen's employees a widowed father of four named don tidy don was driving his teenage daughter to
school in the dublin suburb of rathbarnum when ira members posing as the gata pulled him over
and shoved him in the booth of their fake police car after a 22-day long investigation
don was found unharmed with his captors in a wooded area of county latrum and a shootout followed
resulting in the deaths of a guarder trainee and an army private the general consensus was that the ira
took sure as they had the motive and means to carry out the theft but when the ira didn't claim
responsibility some people doubted their involvement as they had always admitted to all their
other kidnappings moreover at the time sure was taken a number of british intelligence agents
had infiltrated the ira and it was expected that one of them would have surely heard about the plan
those who suspected the ira was responsible have argued that british intelligence
might have known but didn't speak up out of fear of putting their lives in jeopardy
it's also been suggested that the ira may have never owned up to the crime because the public outrage over sugar's
theft was so much more intense than the reaction to ira kidnappings of people it was argued that the ira kept it a
secret because they feared a huge backlash from the irish community over the theft of the beloved horse
by the end of 1983 insurance companies began to pay out sugar's various shareholders for their losses
most of the shareholders had taken out insurance with lloyds of london for over 10 million pounds which
included coverage for sure death as a result of accident sickness or disease twenty of the shareholders had also paid
extra premiums to cover theft which resulted in each of them receiving a payout of seven million
pounds those who didn't have coverage for theft didn't receive any payouts as it
couldn't be proved whether or not sugar was dead and therefore the insurance companies
weren't obliged to pay some of the wealthier shareholders took the issue to court
but their claims were unsuccessful which discredited some lingering theories that suregas theft
was an insider job orchestrated by the shareholders in a bid to collect large insurance payouts
by 1984 the case had gone cold and on february 6 just prior to the commencement of the breeding season
the shareholders and agar khan released their first official statement they confirmed to
their belief that the ira was responsible for the crime and that sure had been killed shortly
after he was stolen describing his chances of being alive as remote 18 months after shergar's
disappearance chief inspector james murphy told the washington post quote you have to take into account more
serious things a person's life is involved in a murder not a horse's but we keep looking
you can never feel dispirited though you have to take into account the lapse of time we follow up on anything
you can't call the case closed until it is theories continued to as to suregast fate
some believed he was held in a private farm until the story died down at which point he was disguised and
raced under a different name in order to win money for his captors this theory held a little credit as
there was no guarantee that sure would have performed after several years without training
and nor could he have been disguised well enough to prevent people from recognizing him
another theory was that sugar had been stolen for breeding purposes this too was easily dismissed as the
prophets derived from breeding with a famous racehorse came almost entirely from the name
attached to the horse without revealing that sure was the father any offspring he bore would be worth a
fraction of the cost some believe the middle eastern sheikh had stolen shergar to breed his own
successful racehorses but this theory was also dismissed given the sheer effort it would have taken to secretly
transport the horse internationally authorities did investigate this claim but found
no evidence to suggest a horse had been charted out of the country by sea or air around the time of sugar's
disappearance it was also speculated that the mafia may have been responsible in the months before shergar's theft a
french bloodstock agent named jean-michael gambit who was living in the united states
had been in talks with the agar khan about purchasing a racehorse it was speculated that jean michael
didn't have the money to buy the horse up front so he obtained a loan of half a million
dollars from the new orleans mafia the deal with the agar khan then fell through
but jean michael had already spent the money and couldn't afford to repay the mafia
on december 13 1982 jean michael was shot dead in his car and the vehicle sat alight
the theory was that he had been killed by the mafia who then stole shergar as a means of
repayment however the police ruled that jean michael's death was a suicide and he had staged the crime scene to
look like a murder so his family could collect from his multiple life insurance policies
neither the authorities nor the agar khan believed the two incidents were related
at one point it was even speculated that libyan political leader colonel muamma al-gaddafi was
responsible and was holding sugar in libya the theory was that colonel gaddafi had
struck a deal with the ira to steal shergar in exchange for weapons because he was opposed to the agakhan's
position as a muslim spiritual leader a position he felt he was much better suited to
it was argued that colonel gaddafi had decided to kidnap europe's most famous force as a way to
demonstrate the influence and power he held while causing the agar khan great embarrassment
this theory was rejected by authorities and sugar shareholders as there was no evidence to suggest
that colonel gaddafi even knew who sugar was let alone had anything to do with his
kidnapping there were also theories that sure may have been taken by someone who was
jealous of his success the agar khan had an ongoing rivalry with a kentucky-based bloodstock agent
named wayne murdie over a complicated horse sail in 1978 that had ultimately worked out in the
agar khan's favor wayne had been furious which led the media to report he may have retaliated
against the aggar khan by stealing sugar wayne denied any involvement and without any evidence to link him to
the crime the theory dissipated over time in an interview wayne admitted that he
hated the aggir khan enough that he would have relished pulling off suregas kidnapping but emphasized he
would never stoop that low years went by without any breakthroughs in the case in july of 1997 the ira
called a final ceasefire and on april 10 1998 a treaty known as the good friday agreement
was signed marking an end to the troubles over the course of the ira's 30-year campaign
approximately 1800 people were killed including 640 civilians and 1100 members of the british security forces
and an estimated 10 000 ira members were imprisoned at various times the same year that the good friday
agreement was signed an autobiography was published that claimed to reveal the truth about what
happened to shergar titled the informant the book was written by shawno callahan
a former senior member of the ira who had also worked as a police informant for the
gada in his book o'callaghan claimed that the ira had been facing bankruptcy in the early 1980s
and desperately needed money to further their campaigns so renowned leading member of the ira
kevin mallon was tasked with the job of raising several million pounds o'callaghan claimed that melon gathered
a small team from dublin to pull off the theft including one ira member named jerry
fitzgerald two weeks after sugar was taken fitzgerald confided in o'callaghan that
he was responsible and said only a handful of other people knew about the plot according to fitzgerald just the hours
after the theft shergar became extremely distressed and started thrashing about his captors were unable to calm him down
and he eventually injured one of his legs not knowing what to do the ira members
decided they had no choice but to shoot sure and then pretend he was still alive
in order to collect the ransom money when they realized that the syndicate wasn't going to pay without proof that
sugar was still alive the group abandoned the plan and deceased all communications
o'callaghan confirmed an ongoing theory that the thieves had made the mistake of
thinking that the agar khan was sure so loner and would therefore be the only one deciding whether or not to pay the
ransom they also didn't think that theft would attract anywhere near the amount of
media attention that it did summarising the kidnapping o'callaghan said quote it was a total cock-up
from start to finish police documents from the time corroborate this story as there were reports that a small group
of men from the ira suddenly changed their behaviour around the time that sugar was taken
but no definitive evidence exists and o'callaghan's claims have never been proven
in 1999 a movie titled sure gar was released based loosely on the events surrounding
the theft and it went on to win the award for best foreign film at the temecula international film
festival in california that same year her special race named the shergar cup was held at the goodwood
racecourse in west sussex england to commemorate shergar's memory the race was designed to be a
light-hearted competition with a unique racing format similar to the ryder cup in golf
and the winners were presented with a silver statue of sugar donated by the agar khan
the shergar cup was so popular that it became an annual event which today is called the dubai
duty-free shergar cup and is held at ascot racecourse in england [Music] in the spring of 2000 a council worker
named tommy foley was clearing out a narrow valley in county kerry island when he found a rotting coal sack
hidden underneath a rock it was badly disintegrated indicating it had been there for a significant amount
of time tommy unwrapped the sack and inside he discovered a horse's skull containing two bullet holes
thinking it was sugar tommy was beside himself and news quickly spread throughout town
that sure had been found des leden an equine veterinarian and clinical pathologist
was called to examine the skull a detailed examination revealed the skull belonged to a two-year-old horse
whereas shergar was five years old at the time he was stolen ruling out the possibility that it was
him on january 27 2008 the sunday telegraph newspaper published an article titled the truth
about sugar racehorse kidnapping the article expanded on ira member turned police informant shawno
callahan's story that kevin mallon had orchestrated the kidnapping according to a source close to a former
ira member the plan to kidnap shergar had been sanctioned by the ira's ruling body
the army council the kidnapping plot had failed from the start because the vet who'd agreed to look
after sugar pulled out on the night of the theft four days into the ransom negotiations
the army council decided it was too much trouble for little gain and told the ira to release shergar
by this point de gada were looking for sugar all over ireland and kevin mallon was under surveillance
making it impossible to transport the horse without getting caught malin instead allegedly ordered that
shergar be shot and two handlers opened fire on him using a machine gun according to the source it was a quote
very bloody death and it took several minutes for sure to succumb to his injuries
the article concluded quote and so the greatest racehorse of the century was butchered in the same way that the
ira killed many of its human enemies the source did not know exactly where s body was buried
but the fact that his carcass was riddled with bullets meant the gang did everything to ensure
shurgar's remains were never found many in the republic including broad republican sympathizers
would never have forgiven the ira and its political wing shin fein for machine gunning the equine
pride of the nation in cold blood in 2017 the royal mail released a series of postage stamps featuring racehorse
legends including shergar the back of the pack read in the summer of 1981 sure was the meteor that filled the
racing sky on august 29 2019 suregas vet stan cosgrove passed away he never received an insurance payout
for sure gas theft and had been forced to sell his 120 acre farm to recoup costs involved with his shares
in the horse as well as the 80 000 pounds he lost in the failed reward money scam
stan was remembered as an extraordinary equine veterinarian and for the work he did in trying to
recover shergar many believe shergar's remains are most likely hidden in county litrium
a largely deserted area that covers a land mass of 1590 square kilometers at the time the area was used for ira
training camps and to house members of the ira who were on the run in the 1980s police secretly excavated
some buggy areas in county latrum looking for sure but with no success des leden the equine veterinarian and
clinical pathologist says he still receives skeletal remains from time to time that require
testing to see if they belong to shergar a dna profile for sure has been completed
and is stored securely in case it is ever required to make a positive identification
in the future it was able to be completed because two veterinarian students had come forward
following suregast theft to admit they'd plucked two hairs from shergar's tale to keep as
souvenirs while studying at bali many stud to this day the ira has never claimed
responsibility for stealing surga although the gada the agar khan and a majority of suregha's shareholders
believe they were to blame in recent times it's been suggested that former ira members still haven't acknowledged
their involvement because the troubles and the organization's terror tactics are a painful old wound that the people
of ireland want to move on from the investigation into what happened to sugar is no longer active and former members
of the ira have no reason to come forward if they were responsible as they'd only risk putting their fellow
ex-comrades behind bars prior to stan cosgrove's death he commented that the ira's silence only
served as proof that they were responsible he believed that they chose to remain
silent out of shame regret and the fear of bad publicity after realizing that they quote
had done a repulsive thing to the irish people [Music] [Music] you

Case 156: Shergar

When The Troubles began, fighting between the IRA and British soldiers from Northern Ireland was at an all-time high. Over the years, the IRA bombed political and economic targets...

CREDITS

Narration – Anonymous Host Research – Jessica Forsayeth Writing – Elsha McGill Creative direction – Milly Raso Production, scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn

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Brief Summary

The episode recounts the kidnapping of racehorse Shergar, suspected to involve the IRA, and the ongoing mystery of his fate.

Key points

The Rise of Shergar. Shergar, an Irish racehorse, became a national treasure and symbol of hope during troubled times.
The Kidnapping of Shergar. Shergar was kidnapped, leading to a dramatic ransom negotiation involving racing journalists.
Shergar Kidnapped. The famous racehorse Shergar is kidnapped, sparking a massive investigation.
Ransom Demands. The kidnappers demand a ransom of two million pounds for Shergar's safe return.
Proof of Life. A photo is sent as proof that Shergar is still alive, but doubts arise.
Simply Safe: Home Security Made Easy. Simply Safe offers a no-contract, easy-to-install home security system for just $15 a month.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Shergar became a symbol of hope and possibility in an otherwise bleak and trying time.

4:51WatchSep 14, 2020

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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