TWO WOMEN RAISED as stepdaughters of Julia Holmes, the woman whose body was found alongside her partner Thomas Ruttle in Limerick, have spoken exclusively to RTÉ’s Prime Time about their life with her, saying they believe she lacked a conscience.
The couple, who had not been seen for two months, were found dead in their farmhouse at Boolaglass near Askeaton.
The cause of their deaths is still unknown.
Holmes had been wanted by the PSNI, having been charged with fraud in 2011 and skipped bail.
She had also been arrested for fraud in other jurisdictions such as the US, reports RTÉ.
Kimberly Parrish-Sanders and Rosalyn Frazier knew Julia Holmes for almost twenty years before she was arrested by the FBI.
Speaking to RTÉ Prime Time’s Barry Cummins, they said people in Texas, where she lived with them and their father, believed everything that came out of her mouth, but that she was a “good liar”.
Kim explained that Julia would get them into the most elaborate and exclusive events.
She mixed in high circles, they said, stating that they had spent occasions with actor Patrick Swayze as well as Arnold Palmer and Vice President Dan Quayle.
However, they said she told lies right from the start. Rosalyn said they had been told that she was from Ireland and that her family back in Ireland had died in a house fire.
The story I was told
“That’s not the story I got, I was told there were two brothers left and their wives and children. And that she did have a son and he had died of cancer at the age of 13. In actual fact I believe her son is four years older than me, I believe he is 44 now,” said Kim.
In the states she took advantage of local business people who gave her money to invest in property in Ireland. However, Julia never invested the money and instead spent it.
RTÉ reports that in the Federal courthouse in Tyler, Texas in 2004 Julia Holmes’ pleaded guilty to defrauding people of a total of over $500,000 dollars.
Deported
She spent 27 months in prison in the US before being deported back to Ireland.
She went on to fraud other businesses including a beauty spa in Tyrone.
She was later charged with another offence of conning a man out of £18,000. She was released on bail but never showed for her court case, instead moving down to the Republic where she established a new identity.
“She was a chameleon, why didn’t she use that to do well. To build an empire. She would have been the most successful person you’ve ever met, had she put her talents to good use,” said Kim.
The two women said they sympathised with Thomas Ruttle’s family and offered them their condolences.
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