Elaine O'Hara: Coercion and Control

Elaine O'Hara: Coercion and Control

From Lines of Enquiry by GoLoud

May 12, 2026 · 1h 23m · Season 3 · Episode 8

About this episode

This episode revisits the chilling murder of Elaine O'Hara, exploring the dark circumstances surrounding her disappearance and the subsequent investigation.

Elaine O’Hara disappeared from her Dublin home in 2012, at the age of 36.  She left behind no trace. Her family struggled to understand what had happened to their bright and friendly sister and daughter. One year later, a woman walking in the woods of Dublin discovered Elaine’s remains. As Gardai began to piece together her final moments and days they saw traces of a dark and sinister side to Elaine’s disappearance and death. The mission to find out what happened to Elaine became a complex and brutal garda investigation. A meticulous investigation would lead them to one of the country's most disturbing and shocking cases, and to one of the most high-profile trials in Irish history. In this episode of Lines of Enquiry John Sweetman revisits a chilling murder that brought a dark subculture of violent sadomasochism into public consciousness. Presented by John Sweetman Created by Darren Cleary Episode Written by Anna Priestland Script Edited by Darren Cleary Produced by Siobhan Walsh Produced by Siobhán Maguire Executive Produced by Eoin Brennan Executive Produced by Ruth Fitzsimons Sound Design and Editing by Neil Kavanagh Audio Editing Support by Ed Smith Marketing Support by…

People in this episode

Host: John Sweetman

Topics covered

  • murder investigation
  • disappearance
  • sadomasochism
  • Irish history
  • true crime
  • Garda investigation

Keywords

  • Elaine O'Hara
  • murder
  • disappearance
  • Garda
  • investigation
  • sadomasochism
  • trial
  • true crime
  • Dublin

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Gardai, GoLoud

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