Dad stabbed three sons in throat to 'stop them screaming' after he was caught 'red-handed'

A dad who slaughtered his entire family stabbed his children in the throat to stop their screams, with his wife's sister shedding more light on his disturbing motives.

Alan Hawe, who was 40 at the time, his wife, Clodagh, 39, with an array of weapons including a hatchet and knife before going upstairs to brutally end the lives of their three sons - Liam, 13, Niall, 11, and Ryan, six - in their sleep. The rampage occured in August 2016 at their home in County Cavan, Ireland.

Offering harrowing insight into the possible motives behind such horrific acts, Jacqueline Connolly, Clodagh's sister, has recently released a memoir entitled Deadly Silence and disclosed details about Hawe's secret pornography addiction during an interview. She believes that dread of this secret being exposed was a driving force behind the monstrous deed.

Speaking RTE Radio One, she said: "I suppose it would be social death if anybody found out that he had that addiction. I couldn't believe it when I was told. You know, to me, Alan was boring. He was socially inept. Holier than thou. He was very much involved in the church and the community, the GAA (Irish football) club.

"And the go-to man if anybody wanted anything done, the vice principal of the school. He was very much respected. And so if this was to come out, it was going to bring on a lot of shame."

Discussing whether this could have influenced his unspeakable actions, she stated firmly: "Absolutely. The Serious Crime Review Team have revealed the evidence behind all of that. You've placed yourself as a brilliant father, husband and colleague. The shame of what he was looking at, to him, was the end of the world."

The Hawe family

Alan Hawe, a man once seen as a devout Catholic and vice principal at Castlerahan National School, led a double life. His wife Clodagh, a respected teacher at Oristown National School in County Meath, was remembered as a "wonderful, dedicated and caring teacher for pupils".

To the public, Hawe appeared to be a "pillar of the community", yet behind the facade, he frequented Russian dating websites, cross-dressed in his wife's clothes, and harboured an addiction to pornography. He even viewed indecent images of children using secret email accounts.

Ireland's largest murder-suicide

In what became Ireland's largest murder-suicide cases, Clodagh was casually sipping tea and looking up family holidays when Hawe mercilessly took her life.

Jacqueline recalled the chilling details: "He came in behind her and he hit her in the head with the axe and he stabbed her in the back and she put up her hand to defend herself and he basically nearly sawed her hand off.

"He killed her like he hated her. He didn't need to use two weapons, he killed her with such brutality it was evil. He then sat down and he wrote the letter because he had left the axe and knife on the floor. He took up a new knife and went upstairs."

Hawe composed a suicide note before seizing another knife to end the lives of his sons, slitting their throats as they slept. After the gruesome act, he returned downstairs to pen a second note.

Hawe, who subsequently took his own life, confessed in writing: "All the good stuff we did I was really into it. But I think there was some sort of psychosis that made me enjoy that yet in the next moment I was the complete opposite. I'm sorry for how I murdered them all but I simply had no other way."

Jacqueline, in a display of immense fortitude, disclosed devastating details about her nephews' murders: "We know he put his knee on Liam's chest and cut through his windpipe to render him silent. Niall was sharing a room with Liam so Niall probably wouldn't have woken up because Liam couldn't scream out but he had defensive wounds on his hands.

"He did the same to Niall and then he went to Ryan's room. Ryan was the smallest of the three of them. He was very slight and thin for his age but during the inquest we were told that [Hawe] used a sawing action on Ryan and then he just threw a duvet cover over all of them and left the knife that he used on Ryan's pillow. That is evil. That is not depression. That is force brutality and it is control."

It emerged from the findings of a state pathologist that the children may have been stabbed in their Adam's apples to prevent them from screaming.

Secret shame

Hawe's final written words mentioned his fear of being exposed, alluding to being "caught red-handed" and that he worried about the school return where "it was all going to blow up".

Reevaluating those last words, Jacqueline reflected: "I don't see it any way other than he enjoyed what he did." Grappling with a porn addiction, he attended counselling sessions where notes indicated he "masturbated somewhere he shouldn't have - possibly school".

Following his death, the school's legal representatives stated there was no proof he indulged in pornography during school hours. However, it is thought that the fear of his secrets being exposed drove him to commit the horrific act of killing his entire family.

In her memoir, Jacqueline expresses her conviction that the gardai (Irish police) failed to conduct a thorough investigation into the deaths and is urging officials to disclose the findings from a subsequent probe by the Serious Crime Review Team.

For emotional support you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org, visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.