Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
The youngest people in Irish history to be convicted of murder were two 14-year-old boys. They had brutally killed a young girl in what appeared to be a satanic ritual. Their victim was 14-year-old Anatasia Kriégel, known as Ana. Ana was born on February 17, 2004, in Novokuznetsk, Russia. After two years in an orphanage, she was adopted by Geraldine and Patric Kriégel in 2006. The small family moved to Ireland. Everything seemed perfect. But Ana struggled with health issues. After a tumor was removed from her right ear, she was nearly deaf in that ear. She also suffered from vision problems. Ana was a student at Kildare School who had few friends besides her cousins and was considered an outsider. Not only was she very tall, but she also liked to wear makeup. On social media, she was bullied because of her height and the fact that she was adopted. Since 2017, Ana had even been self-harming. Then, on May 14, 2018, around 5 p.m., a boy called wanting to speak with Ana, which was totally unusual. Ana rarely received calls. The 13-year-old boy had great news: his friend, with whom Ana was secretly in love, wanted to meet her. Ana was over the moon, grabbed her black hoodie, and ran to the agreed-upon meeting spot in Catherine’s Park, where she was last seen alive around 5:30 p.m. Since Ana didn’t come home, her parents reported her missing to the police. Three days later, on May 17, 2018, Ana Kriégel’s body, which was naked except for her socks, was found in an abandoned 19th-century farmhouse in Lucan. Ana had apparently been tortured, sexually abused, and murdered. The autopsy revealed that Ana had suffered severe head and neck injuries as well as sexual assault. Semen was found on her shirt, and DNA was discovered on the electrical tape wrapped around her neck. Investigators quickly zeroed in on two 13-year-old boys, who, due to their minor status, may only be referred to as Boy A and Boy B. Boy B had lured Ana to the farmhouse, where Boy A was already waiting for her; Boy A tortured Ana and attempted to rape her. The murder resembled a satanic ritual that both boys had meticulously planned. Their murder kit included zombie masks, black gloves, shin guards, knee pads, as well as a long stick and a concrete block. During a search of the house, investigators found a notebook titled “Satanic Promise” in one of the boys’ rooms, containing rules such as “do not speak of Jesus or God, only of Satan.” On April 30, 2019, the trial of the two boys began at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, where they pleaded not guilty. The trial lasted six weeks, and on June 18, 2019, both boys were found guilty of the murder of Ana Kriégel. On November 5, Boy A was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Ana, with a review period after 12 years. In addition, he was sentenced to 12 more years in prison for aggravated sexual assault. Boy B was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of Ana Kriégel. This sentence will be reviewed after 8 years at the earliest. On May 31, 2018, Ana Kriégel was buried at the Newlands Cross Crematorium in Dublin. Four years after the brutal murder of his daughter, Patric Kriégel died peacefully at home on June 19, 2022; he had never been able to bear the pain of having lost his beloved daughter so cruelly.
