The Harrowing Disappearance & Murder of Ana Kriégel — nobetterdan.
Anastasia “Ana” Kriégel, was born in Russia but adopted by a loving couple in Ireland.
On the 14th of May, 2018, the 14-year-old attended a counselling session after school and returned home. At 5:00 pm that evening, a child known by the name of 13-year-old Boy B (I’ll explain this soon) arrived at her house — Ana’s adopted mother, Geraldine, found this odd because nobody usually called to the house looking for her daughter. The two left the house together.
She was last seen at the nearby St. Catherine’s Park at 5:30 pm …
When Ana never returned, Ana’s mother reported her missing to the authorities.
Expecting a normal missing child case, where the child would turn up hours later, the Gardaí (Irish Police) decided to interview the last person known to have seen her. Boy B — as he is now known. They interviewed the child with his parents present at 10:45 PM — only hours after she was reported missing.
It was only during the second interview the following morning that the child revealed another fact.
There was someone else with him and Ana — another 13-year-old, Boy A.
Both boys were brought out to show dozens of police and detectives the exact route they took. At this point, it was still a normal missing child’s case.
It was then, right in the middle of the search, that Gardaí happened to catch a very suspicious-looking glance that made them realise something was wrong.
“I felt immediately there was something wrong,” Sergeant Aonghus Hussey would later tell the court.
The Boys give conflicting statements about Ana Kriégel’s disappearance
It was at this point that both boys were asked to come in and give separate statements. It was hoped that both statements would match up.
They did not.
Boy A claimed that the 3 were walking through the park when he was attacked by two other individuals — he went home and wasn’t sure what happened to Ana after that. Boy B’s statement did not mention any individuals who attacked Boy A, obviously setting off alarm bells for everyone involved.
It was then that it moved steadily away from a missing child case and to something far more sinister …
Ana Kriégel is found
On the 17th of May; 3 days after she was first reported missing, a Garda team specialising in searching for missing persons was searching nearby derelict buildings. Here, an officer reported he might have discovered something.
After searching multiple rooms in the house, what was thought at first to be a mannequin was found.
It was, unfortunately, the body of Ana Kriégel.
“I stood at the door and saw the body of a naked female lying on the floor of the room. She was naked completely except for socks. I entered the room — I could not see her face at that time. There was something covering her face,” the officer would tell the court later.
The truth comes out
With the discovery of her body, the case went from a missing person’s to a murder case. The two suspects, Boy A & Boy B, was brought in for questioning and Gardaí gained search warrants for their houses.
In Boy A’s room, they found a bag containing a zombie mask as well as boots — both of which had traces of blood on them — Ana’s blood.
“Boy A either assaulted Ana Kriegel or was very close to her when she was assaulted,” John Hoade, a DNA expert, would tell the court later on.
After changing his story multiple times, Boy B finally settled on the truth. He was there when Boy A assaulted poor Ana; removing her clothes before choking her. It was here that he ran away. He would later tell officers that he was ashamed for being too scared to help Ana. That he was horrified that he went home and tried to forget about what he saw.
Boy A & Boy B are brought to court
Both Boy A & Boy B would be charged with murder and aggravated sexual assault — both sentences that would carry life sentences had they been adults.
Their trial commenced on the 29 April 2019, nearly a year after poor Ana went missing.
During the trial, it was ruled illegal to release their identities — hence both boys being referred to as Boy A & Boy B.
After a horrible trial, in which the jury had to sit through so much gruesome information, it concluded on the 18 June 2019 — after 14 hours of deliberation, the jury returned their verdict:
Both boys were found guilty of murder.
The two, Boy A & Boy B, were the youngest to be convicted of murder in the history of Ireland.
“Ana was our strength.”
Following the trial, both of Ana’s adoptive parents gave a conference:
“Ana was our strength,” her father said.
“Ana was a dream come true for us and she always will be. She will stay in our hearts, forever loved and forever cherished. We love you Ana,” her mother said.
Originally published at https://nobetterdan.com on January 28, 2022.
