The 79-year-old, who is currently housed at Arbour Hill Prison in Dublin, is due for a parole hearing next Febraury but a source said he is “very unlikely to make it that long”
The evil rapist and murderer, who is currently Ireland’s longest serving prisoner, is believed to only have a few months left to live due to his struggles with a lung condition.
The 79-year-old, who is currently housed at Arbour Hill Prison in Dublin, is due for a parole hearing next February but a source said he is “very unlikely to make it that long”.
The family of one of his victims, Elizabeth Plunkett, have been calling for a cold case review into her murder after it emerged that Shaw and his partner-in-crime Geoffrey Evans were never prosecuted over her killing.
It emerged during an inquest hearing into her death that Shaw was never prosecuted for her murder while now deceased Evans was only convicted of her rape and false imprisonment, but not her murder.
A source said that if gardai are to question Shaw they must act now instead of waiting until it is too late.
The source said: “Shaw’s health is declining at a very rapid rate, he is really struggling to breath let alone walk or do anything.
“After every five or six steps he has to stop and take a break. He used to be known as a laid back person in prison but since his health has declined he has become very angry.
“The good weather hasn’t helped with his breathing either as the cells in Arbour Hill are smaller than most due to when the prison was built so they are extremely hot and clammy.
“It’s very unlikely in his current state that he will make it to 2026 for his parole hearing.
“He had been getting the odd day out on supervised temporary release but there are no other days planned yet.
“To be honest it would be a struggle for him to even walk around town like he did on the last day out.
“It is important that if the gardai have any questions to put to him that they do it now rather than when he is unable to speak and on his death bed.”
English career criminal Shaw along with his accomplice Geoffrey Evans, met in an English prison where they hatched their chilling plot to abduct, torture, rape and murder women.
The pair travelled around Ireland during the summer of 1976 resolving to kill one woman a week.
Their twisted killing spree ended with the murder of young clerk Elizabeth Plunkett, 23, in Co Wicklow and cook Mary Duffy, 24, in Co Mayo.
VICTIM: Elizabeth Plunkett
The two men were caged for life in February 1978 but shockingly, despite Shaw confessing to the killing of Elizabeth with his now deceased partner-in-crime, the pair were never convicted of the Dublin woman’s murder.
Evans died from an infection in 2012 after being in a vegetative state for three years.
The 68-year-old, who was also serving his sentence at Dublin’s Arbour Hill, was rendered helpless by a stroke following a heart bypass operation at the Mater Hospital on Christmas Eve, 2008, Dublin’s Coroner’s Court heard in 2013.
His post-mortem found he died as a result of sepsis due to hospital acquired pneumonia.
A new podcast series called Stolen Sister, which centres on Ms Plunkett’s case, aired last month.
John Shaw and Geoffrey Evans
It emerged earlier this week that seven people had come forward to allege they were potentially targeted, or witnessed others being targeted, by the two serial killers in 1976.
The two sisters of Elizabeth Plunkett told RTE News earlier this year: “We’re relieved that this individual, who confessed to abducting, raping and murdering our beloved Elizabeth has once again been refused parole.
“However, he has still not faced justice for what he did to our sister.
“We’re calling on the DPP to tell us why this man never faced the courts for what he did to our Elizabeth. And we’re asking the gardai to now re-examine his case so Elizabeth can finally get some justice.”
Serial killer John Shaw
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – July 20th