Tyrone murders to feature in new TV series

A NEW BBC show will explore the disappearances and murders of four young women, including Arlene Arkinson and Marian Beattie.

‘Murder In The Badlands’ is a new four part series from BBC Northern Ireland, which will forensically rebuild the timeline of the murders and the investigations that followed. Each episode features insights from surviving family members, police officers, journalists and criminologists.

Marian Beattie was murdered on the outskirts of Aughnacloy in 1973, after returning home from a disco. Marian’s body was found in the early hours of the following day at the bottom of the nearby quarry, after the RUC opened a murder investigation. It’s nearly 40 years on, and nobody has been brought to justice.

Arlene Arkison, a 15-year-old teenager from Castlederg, went missing after attending a disco in Bundoran County Donegal in 1994. Arlene’s body has never been found, despite extensive searches. And no-one has ever been convicted of her murder.

The other two murders are those of Lisa Dorrian, a 25-year-old shop assistant from Bangor, Co Down, who was last seen at a party at a caravan park in the village of Ballyhalbert in 2005.

Also, Inga Maria Hauser 18, from Munich whose body was found in Ballypatrick Forest, Ballycastle, over 30 years ago. No-one has even been covicted over either incident.

The first episode, broadcast this Monday (March 14), will be about the events surrounding the disappearance of Lisa Dorrian.