A 55-year-old woman who was murdered in her own home in Co Cavan last year has been described “as the glue that held the extended family together”.
32-year-old Danny Heyneman pleaded guilty last month to murdering his mother Annie Heyneman and attempting to murder his father Henk Heyneman at their West Cavan home
At his sentencing hearing in courtroom number 20’at the Central Criminal Court today, evidence of that tragic night was presented in court and some family members got an opportunity to share how her murder has had such a profound impact on their lives.
In a victim impact statement read to the court by Henk Heyneman, he said he lost his wife and a son that horrific night, adding that “Danny was no longer my son from that night in January 2025”.
He said he remembers it all the time, adding he still feels the pain and he spoke of the 25 injuries that he sustained that night and he also said he had 6 broken bones. He outlined his very difficult medical journey that continues. He said “physically I have many scars and mentally I am not okay”.
He also outlined the life he had lived with Annie, he said they were married for 33 years, adding she was a wonderful support to so many. He said Danny took at least 30 years from her life and that she should have been able to grow old which is what she deserved, he said. Henk said everything changed in his life that night. He said Annie’s greatest achievement was being a mother. He said “I wish I could have saved Annie”.
A impact statement read out on behalf of daughter said “words cannot capture the pain.”The events of January 11th 2025 will haunt me forever”. They said how can you feel safe in the world when our brother could do such a thing. “That support of mum is now gone, she was our shield. “The trauma of that night will live on for generations. “Before that night we had a family of 7 we now have a family of 5 and it could have been 4”.
“We are not the same people we once were”
Her sister Eillen Kielty said Annie was a real lost to the entire community adding “I feel her every minute of the day from waking up to trying to go to sleep. The impact of her death is devastating. She said Annie was the glue that held the entire extended family together. “We now struggle to navigate the world without her. “Fostering communities is her legacy because she was able to bring people together”. She said, “Annie was such a fun mam”.
Another sister Noreen Maguire who grew up alongside Annie spoke of the close bond she had with Annie throughout all her life. “I still struggle to comprehend that she’s gone. “My heart sinks for the family that have to live their lives without her”. She said she “would never understand how a son could do this to his mother and leave such devastation behind him. “He could have saved us extra pain by pleading guilty last year and not 15 months later”.
A statement was read out by Keith Spencer BL, representing Danny Heyneman on behalf of him apologising for his actions. “I’m sorry to my family, I have not spent a day without feeling guilt for what I have done to mam. He said he was fully aware of his action and said “I miss you all and I am sorry”.
Detective Inspector Adrian Durcan outlined the evidence in the case in front of the court.
The court was told that Annie and Henk met each other in 1990 in Holland and married and had in total four boys and one daughter. They moved back to Co Cavan a few years after meeting and lived at the family homes on Derrycassan Lane.
During early evidence outlined to the court by prosecution senior counsel Gerardine Small, the court was told how Annie was originally a stay at home mam and then went on to be a carer, while Henk worked at the Slieve Russell Hotel.
Danny Heyneman went to Sligo to study after school, moved to London then and went to study in Letterkenny. The court was told how Danny arrived back in March of 2020 to live at the Heyneman family home in rural west Cavan and didn’t work during that time and turned to an over reliance on alcohol.
The court was told that there was incidents of self-harm and how Danny Heyneman was admitted to psychiatric units during that period.
During that evidence, the court was told alcohol abuse was a problem and we also heard how Mr Heyneman was fixated that he was being watched and being listened to on devices, he believed even mobile phones that were turned off were still able to listen and he would wrap these devices up in tin foil.
Ms Small said that his behaviour at home was described as somewhat challenging.
The court heard how Henk Heyneman escaped from the house on that night and raised the alarm with a near by neighbour on his road. The neighbour said Henk was bleeding heavily and how he was standing in a pool of blood, stab wounds to his chest and he was wearing no shoes. He said Danny had assaulted him and his wife, and that his wife may be dead.
He asked his neighbour to call 999 and not to let anyone near the family home.
During evidence Inspector Durcan said the first to arrive at the scene that night was the armed support unit and on arrival smoke could be seen billowing from the front door and the fire alarm was going off.
He said Gardaí worked in difficult circumstances due to the smoke in the property. The inspector said as the armed Gardai went down the front hall and into the sitting room/kitchen a female was lying in a pool of blood.
She had stab wounds to her upper chest area, she was brought out to the front of the house where CPR commenced and despite these actions she was pronounced dead at 23.08.
A call was made to 999 from a take away in Ballyconnell that night also at 21.43 about an incident that occurred 6.7kms away. The accused Danny Heyneman had driven there and asked for the owner to call for help. At the time he had a blood on his hands and he said there had been an argument at his family home.
He was arrested at the scene at 22.30 and as he was bring cautioned he made a number of comments to Gardai about what enfolded at his home. He says that his mother wouldn’t let him leave and that he wanted to leave, he also said he had drank a bottle of vodka and a bottle of beer that day but he said he wasn’t drunk when asked.
He said he couldn’t recall too much but that definitely was an argument.
During an interview with Gardai, the 999 call that he made was played to him and was described as someone who was cool, concise and in control. Mr Heyneman replied to that by saying he wasn’t in control.
A post mortem that was carried out by Professor Linda Mulligan on the 13th of January 2025 found that Annie Heyneman’s death was caused by multiple stab wounds. The court was told that she was stabbed up to 14 times.
A medical report highlighted that Henk Heyneman had 26 injuries sustained to his body, the report highlighted complex fractures that he sustained and how he had a long road to recovery and how that recovery is ongoing to this very day. It was highlighted that Henk has ongoing issues surrounding sleep, stress and social anxiety.
Photographs were handed into Judge Hunt that described the scene at the time and what the inside of the home looked like following the incident. Photographs also showed the knife that was used during the attack.
The court was also told that Danny Heyneman had no previous convictions.
The 32-year-old with an address at Kilnavart, Ballyconnell in Co Cavan killed his mother at their family home on Derrycassan Lane on January 11th, 2025.
Danny was in court today has been in custody since his arrest in January of 2025.
On the night of January 11th, Gardaí were alerted to what they described as a serious incident in the rural townland of Kilnavart, around 7km west of Ballyconnell.
Annie Heyneman was pronounced dead at the scene that night when emergency services reached the home while her husband Hank fought for his life following the incident.
Danny Heyneman was arrested at a chip shop in Ballyconnell on that night fatal night.
He walked into the Big Bite chip shop in the town and asked the owner to call the gardaí and an ambulance and he was bleeding heavily.
In the days following the incident, friends and neighbours attempted to rally around the family by holding a major online fundraising drive in a bid to provide financial assistance and to honour the legacy of one of the locality’s most affable of characters.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt set a date today of the 2nd of June to allow the sentence to be handed down to Mr Heyneman for count 1 of murder and count 2 of attempted murder.
