Ian Rutledge’s condition in hospital remained critical last night following the suspected shooting in Maguiresbridge.
Fermanagh farmer Ian Rutledge is suspected of shooting his wife – Clare native Vanessa Whyte – and the couple’s two children, Sara and James, before causing injury to himself at the family home in Maguiresbridge on Wednesday.
Vanessa and Sara (13) were pronounced dead at the scene while Ian and son James (14) were rushed to hospital, but the youngster died from his injuries a short time later.
Ian Rutledge’s condition in hospital remained critical last night as devastated family, friends and the wider community continue to struggle to come to terms with his suspected actions.
Police are not looking for anyone else in relation to the triple murder and are trying to establish a motive for the shooting.
Floral tributes with tributes left for the murdered children and mother near the scene of Wednesday’s gun attack
It comes as sources told how Vanessa Whyte’s home on the Drummeer Road in Maguiresbridge was a “house of joy” on the day of the triple murders because she had just got news of a promotion at work.
Ms Whyte was originally from Barefield, a village just outside of Ennis, in County Clare, where many of her family and friends still reside.
The Sunday World has learned Vanessa, who was a vet, had recently secured a promotion and had been celebrating.
“Vanessa had gone for a promotion at work recently and had got the news she had been successful and I know she was very happy about it, in fact the whole house was happy about it,” said a source yesterday who knew the family.
“That’s what is so shocking about this. This was a happy house, a house of joy so what happened on Wednesday morning is unbelievable.”
And it has emerged just hours before he was shot dead, her happy 14-year-old son James had been out taking selfies of himself doing his favourite thing – driving a tractor.
Sonia Smyth, a leading member of the Maguiresbridge Village Rural Development Association and neighbour to the family, said: “One of his school friends said James had sent a wee snap on Tuesday night to say he was out on the tractor where he loved to be the best. The kids would get home from school, throw off the school uniforms and into the farming clothes and away they’d go.
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“I knew Vanessa, James and Sara for many years, they just lived over the road from me in a quiet, rural setting – it’s like something you’d read about on the internet about something in America. The community is just very, very shocked.
“Because Vanessa came from Clare and a big hurling background – and her house is situated between Maguiresbridge and Lisbellaw – she helped the children with the hurling in Lisbellaw and her children played there and also played football here with Maguiresbridge GAA.
“And then of course they loved farming. Farming is the background to the family.”
Vanessa worked for the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) and many of her colleagues, including her veterinary boss Brian Dooher, were present at the Friday night’s vigil in the County Fermanagh village.
The Chief Veterinary Officer said: “Many of us had the privilege of knowing Vanessa personally and she was hugely admired by all those who came across her. The loss we feel today is immense and it has profoundly affected us.”
And Fermanagh priest Father Brian D’Arcy called for better health services so “nothing like this kind of madness is let loose on the community again”.
Sonya Smith leaves a message in the book of condolence which was opened at the school James and Sara previously attended
Fr Brian, who knew the family, was invited to say a prayer at a vigil held in the village’s primary school on Friday night which was attended by hundreds of people.
Men, women and children stood silently as they remembered Vanessa (45), her son James (14) and daughter Sara (13).
Fr Brian was among a number of clergy from various denominations who spoke to the crowd which included First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir.
Presbyterian minister Reverand Rodney Beacom led the proceedings and prayers to the large crowd, many of whom had come in GAA tops from various clubs and counties.
Speaking to the Sunday World after the event, as people continued to queue up to sign the book of condolence which was opened inside the school, Fr Brian said the event was a “credit to the community”.
“I was invited by the organisers to attend to say a prayer and to try and help the people,” he said. “I was happy to come and show solidarity with the people of Maguiresbridge, it’s somewhere I know well, somewhere I have said mass before many times.
“There’s nothing we can do to stop the hurt and grieving in this community and there’s nothing we can say that can make sense of something as senseless as this.
A mother and two children killed in a suspected triple murder and attempted suicide in County Fermanagh have been named by police as Vanessa Whyte, her son James Rutledge and daughter Sara Rutledge.
They died after being shot at a house in Drummeer Road in Maguiresbridge on Wednesday.
“When something like this happens there are no answers – all we can do is be present and support each other.
“That’s one thing about tonight’s vigil – nobody is trying to get answers or trying to make sense of this because you can’t.
“Instead we pull each other through it – the community will pull each other through this. They have been through this before after the murder of Concepta Leonard which I remember well and was in similar circumstances.
“Human kind can’t make sense of a senseless act. However, I would like to hope that out of this comes better help for those struggling with mental health so nothing like this kind of madness is let loose on the community again.”
And he praised the community and their cross-community ethos.
“I know Maguiresbridge will pull together and get through this – just look at the way they have come together tonight,” he said.
“Look at the wonderful way the whole community has come out to show support and solidarity. It’s a truly cross-community event and that’s fitting because you had the kids attending a non-denominational school who were stars of their GAA teams – that’s rare but it’s the way it should be.
“Then you had the DUP’s Diane Armstrong here as well as Michelle O’Neill and other representatives from Sinn Féin. That’s the way it should be.
Hundreds attended a vigil at Maguiresbridge Primary School for Vanessa Whyte and her children James and Sara. Picture: Ronan McGrade
“The president of the Ulster GAA Michael Geoghegan is here. He’s not making a big deal about it, he’s just here.
“It’s a great credit to the community, it really is, and I hope it can stay together to make sure it helps the children who have been left devastated by all this who can’t understand how this could happen to one of their friends and classmates.
“It tears the heart out of the community. The sad thing is life goes on, it has to go on and how do we make things better and that’s where I think we can make things better by making sure there’s more help for people with mental health issues.”
Yesterday long queues of people continued to form outside the primary school as people waited to sign the book of condolence.
Three books had almost been filled already by lunchtime yesterday and it emerged Enniskillen Royal Grammar School, where Sara and James attended, would be open next week to offer support to friends and classmates who might be struggling with the devastating news.
Father Gary Donegan, who is originally from Co Fermanagh but was thrust into the spotlight during the Holy Cross protests in north Belfast, said he attended the vigil because people from the county had been affected “near and far”.
He said: “You feel kind of helpless but sadly I’ve come across these kind of things in the city but in a rural area it’s a completely different thing and you could see tonight how inclusive it was.
“I knew the Rutledge family because they are farmers down around Newtown and I was speaking to a man there who said Sara just loved the sheep and all the other animals so he got to know her the last five years while the wee cub was the captain of the under 14 team at St Mary’s.
“And then you have the family down in Clare so far away so it must be terrible what they are going through as well. It’s just awful.”
Members from Maguiresbridge Running Club were out in force too as Vanessa had been a member.
One woman who ran with Vanessa said: “I knew here though the club and through the school and I just wanted to be here to show support.
“Vanessa was very friendly and always waved when she saw you.”
Another former running mate said: “Her house is on our running route for our annual event so we always run past it and it’s going to be difficult.
“We ran with Vanessa a lot.
“She did up to ten miles and when you are out running with someone on a long run you get to know them quite well and I would just describe her as a really genuine, hard-working person and this is just terrible what’s happened to her and her family.”