Evil killer who stabbed our mum 69 times is let walk streets – it’s madness

A KILLER who stabbed an innocent mum 69 times in a frenzied attack is being released from prison two days per week — leaving her family furious.

Psycho Mark Costigan, now 38, was granted temporary release despite the Parole Board claiming last year he would “pose an undue risk to the community”.

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He killed Christine Quinn, 36, at her home in Greenfields Road, in Kilkenny, on December 5, 2002.

Depraved Costigan, who was just 16 at the time, used three different weapons in the murder — then stole a PlayStation gaming console.

He is being freed from Dublin’s Mountjoy Prison two days a week to visit a centre which provides ­support to freed prisoners.

And his release — part of a scheme for “educational purposes” — will eventually increase to five days a week.

Costigan also enjoyed a visit to Kilkenny on June 9 where he met his family — the third time he has met relatives outside prison.

But the decision to allow him to leave with a probation officer has angered the mother of two’s family.

Christine’s son Ronan said: “It’s complete madness to have this man walking around the streets of Dublin. The whole purpose of prison is rehabilitation but this prisoner has never shown any remorse for my mother’s murder.

“How can someone be afforded these concessions when he continues to deny the murder of a mother in her own home?

“We were told that he posed a risk to the public yet here he is getting out of prison two days a week with only a probation officer.

“I would have great concerns for members of the public because we are dealing with a convicted murderer — not some pretty ­criminal. My mother was a victim of gender-based violence but she has been failed by the State.”

Other son Jason added: “I have family in Dublin and we should not be put in a position where we could encounter our mother’s killer.

“He can get on with his life but my girls only know a headstone in a graveyard as granny.

“I wonder if he has a PlayStation console in his cell because that would be like a trophy to him.

“One minute we are being told he poses a risk to the community and the next minute we are being told he’s being allowed out with a probation officer.

“We want to know why a ­pre-release course is being offered when he hasn’t been granted parole yet? It seems to me that this is under an assumption he is going to be released shortly when the next parole review is due February 2025.”

Failed parole bid

Following Costigan’s failed parole bid in February 2023, his victim’s family received a letter from the Parole Board confirming it had been rejected.

It read: “The Board has decided to refuse parole at this time.

“The Board has concerns that Mark Costigan would pose an undue risk to the community were he to be released on parole at this stage.

The Board decided that Mark Costigan will become eligible for parole again in two years’ time.

“Mark Costigan has made good progress since 2017 and the Parole Board did recommend some periods of temporary release.”

They then received an email last September stating there were “no further recommendations” for him “from the Parole Board at this stage”.

Apology

But Ronan then received another email which “sincerely apologised” for the “incorrect ­information” he had received.

It also outlined how Costigan had received permission for temporary release after a final decision by Justice Minister Helen McEntee.

Although Costigan was jailed for life 20 years ago, he only started engaging with the Irish Prison ­Service in 2017.

And Ronan was told the killer’s temporary release was “dependent on his continued good engagement, his behaviour in prison and his behaviour” before adding: “If he fails to comply fully with all that is expected of him, he risks the ­temporary release privilege being withdrawn.”

Blaze bid

Costigan — who knew his victim and her family — set three fires at Christine’s house in a bid to destroy evidence.

A blade from one of the weapons he used to kill the mother was also discovered in her scalp.

He received a life sentence in 2004 when a jury convicted him of murder.

He was caught after using a blood-stained note to buy a ­PlayStation game.

Parole pain

And Ronan also told of his pain over Costigan’s next parole bid in 2025, adding: “Once again we will be back before the Parole Board to outline our objections to this ­individual’s release.

“He gets to see why we are objecting to his release but we can’t see why he thinks he should be released. Everything is geared towards the perpetrator and not families who have to endure the real life sentence.

“We suffer mental abuse every two years when this convicted killer does his best to be freed.

“The victims’ families should not have to plead with the Parole Board to keep killers in prison.

“We have a right to know what progress they think he has made during his time in prison.”

Minimum tariffs call

The murder victim’s son added: “He will be a young man when he gets out and can rebuild his life.”

Ronan also called for minimum tariffs for killers to be introduced immediately, adding: “We need a major overhaul of the justice ­system in Ireland.

“Whole life orders are given in the UK but we have been waiting for decades. The State and the Government are complicit in the mental abuse of victims’ families when they have to relive all the horrors again and again.”

During his time behind bars, Costigan was regarded as a ‘loner’ by staff and inmates.

He was also punished with P19 disciplinary forms due to his behaviour on the inside.

“I have family in Dublin and we should not be put in a position where we could encounter our mother’s killer.”

Jason Quinn

Vile Costigan also earned the nickname ‘Chucky’ — after the cut-up horror movie doll — after he suffered slash wounds.

One source said: “He just wasn’t very nice and was always complaining about something.

“Costigan thought he was a big man and would hang out with criminals from the west of the country but no one liked him.

“He got a few slashes on the face in his time and that’s why he was called Chucky.”

Ronan, who campaigns for other families, is also a member of the Sentencing and Victim Equality group (SAVE).

SAVE has called for minimum tariffs to be introduced as part of their campaign to highlight the needs of victims’ families.

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