The Murder of Ana Kriegel: A Girl Who Just Wanted to Make Friends
Following years of relentless bullying, Ana’s tortured body was found dumped in a derelict house in Lucan, Republic of Ireland.
Ana’s Story
In May 2018, years of psychological torment came to a cruel end for Ana Kriegel when she was callously murdered in her home town of Lucan, Republic of Ireland. After being adopted from Russia at 2-years-old, Ana was just 14-years-old when she was subjected to a horrific attack at the hands of two teenage boys and succumbed to her injuries.
Although closely treasured by her adoptive parents, Ana’s gentle nature was often taken as weakness by others her own age. As a child, she endured a complicated surgery to remove a tumour from inside her ear, which caused long-term visual and hearing issues. Rather than receiving support for her impairment, fellow classmates used it as an opportunity to mock Ana and prey on her vulnerability. She would also often receive criticism for ‘not having a real mum and dad’, but despite these setbacks, Ana continued to try and establish friendships.
As Ana aged into her teenage years with little companionship, she turned to various social media platforms such as Snapchat, Instagram and Youtube to find people with the same interests. However, instead of making friends, the bullying continued to follow Ana online. She began receiving sexually explicit and threatening messages. One comment on a Youtube video Ana uploaded simply read “I’d have you executed”.
In October 2017, while Ana was returning home from a Halloween event she helped to organise, she was approached by four older boys in the street who asked Ana for sex. She had told them “no”, and as she walked away terrified, one of the boys retaliated by striking her on the backside. Ana returned home very emotionally distressed, and the culprits were issued a caution by the police. However, this experience proved to be the final straw for Ana’s resilience, and a downward spiral into depression and self-harm followed.
Just as Ana had become more socially withdrawn, she thought her life was changing for the better when she received a sudden knock at her door. It was a local 13-year-old boy (Boy B)*, who informed Ana that he was going to take her to meet another boy (Boy A)*, also 13-years-old. Ana had liked Boy A for some time, so she was happy to follow. However, Ana was actually being led into a cruel trap and would tragically never return home.
( * Boy A and Boy B are named as such due to their age, and their anonymity is protected by the law. )
Ana’s Murder
When Ana did not return home later that day, her parents grew extremely concerned and reported her missing. Garda search teams scoured local areas to find her, but sadly the teenage girl’s body was discovered three days later inside a derelict house. At first, she was mistaken for a discarded mannequin lying amongst used condom packaging and broken glass. However, upon closer inspection, the condition of her body confirmed the site was now a murder scene.
Ana had been stripped naked down to only her socks and received significant injuries to her head and neck, including deep lacerations to the scalp. There was blood on her face, bruising on her thighs, and she had also been left with industrial tape wound tightly around her throat. Ana’s fingers were underneath the tape, as though she had been trying to prise it away at the time of her death. A more detailed autopsy found that she had sustained around 60 injuries in total, consisting of numerous defensive wounds, indicating that Ana had fought extremely hard for her life.
CCTV footage was reviewed, which showed Boy B leading Ana away from her home towards the direction of the murder scene, where Boy A was already waiting. After their arrest, traces of Ana’s blood were found on Boy A’s shoes and a ‘murder kit’ was discovered in his bedroom containing a mask, gloves, protective leg-wear, a concrete block, and a piece of wood with nails stuck into the end. The ultimate cause of death was recorded as blunt force trauma, but Ana had also been strangled throughout this ordeal.
In addition to the beating Ana received, the forensic examination also showed that she had been sexually assaulted as there were signs of attempted penetration and traces of semen from Boy A were found on Ana’s clothing. Further searches of the young boys’ homes identified that both boys had developed an obsession with violent pornography. Almost 12,000 sexually explicit images were found on numerous electronic devices belonging to Boy A, and past internet searches had included terms such as “child porn”, “teen sweet Russian”, “most gruesome torture methods in history” and “abandoned places in Lucan”.
Trial and Sentencing
Despite the overwhelming evidence to implicate both boys, they pleaded not guilty. Throughout their trial, they also received the support of their parents. It was noted that, while details of the case were read out to the jury, Boy A appeared visibly upset and held his father’s hand while his mother also cried. It was also noted that Boy A walked with a limp, which was thought to be a result of his struggle with Ana.
Boy B averted his gaze to the ground for most of the hearing and held on to his mother. After a guilty verdict was reached, the father of Boy B flew into a rage before storming out of the courtroom. He then returned shortly afterwards to sarcastically slow clap at the prosecution and shout “an innocent child is going to prison… you fucking bunch of scumbags!”
Under questioning, Boy B told detectives he had been approached by Boy A one month before Ana’s murder. He claimed that Boy A had asked if he wanted to kill someone, and named Ana Kriegel specifically. Boy B claimed he did not consent to participating in Ana’s murder but did confess to turning up at her home and luring her to the meeting place. Boy B also claimed he often felt intimidated by Boy A and fled the crime scene when his co-defendant became violent.
In November 2019, Boy A and Boy B became two of Ireland’s youngest convicted killers for the murder of Ana Kriegel. Boy A was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of review after 12 years, while Boy B was sentenced to serve 15 years in prison with a review after 8 years.
