Granddaughter of murdered factory boss says family could have been spared years of trauma

By David Thompson
Published 28th Dec 2023, 00:00 BST
Thomas Niedermayer with wife Ingeborg and children Renate and Gabriele. Mr Niedermayer, was kidnapped by the IRA on December 27 1973. His body was not found until seven years later in 1980, when he was discovered in a shallow grave in Colin Glen, Belfast.Thomas Niedermayer with wife Ingeborg and children Renate and Gabriele. Mr Niedermayer, was kidnapped by the IRA on December 27 1973. His body was not found until seven years later in 1980, when he was discovered in a shallow grave in Colin Glen, Belfast.
Thomas Niedermayer with wife Ingeborg and children Renate and Gabriele. Mr Niedermayer, was kidnapped by the IRA on December 27 1973. His body was not found until seven years later in 1980, when he was discovered in a shallow grave in Colin Glen, Belfast.
The granddaughter of murdered factory manager Thomas Niedermayer says knowing what happened to him would have saved the family years of grief and anxiety.

Mr Niedermayer was murdered by the IRA in 1973 and his body was hidden under a rubbish dump – where his remains lay undiscovered for seven years.

The family believe the traumatic events sparked a series of suicides within the family. In 1990, Mr Niedermayer’s widow Ingeborg flew from Germany to Bray near Dublin and took her own life. His daughters Gabrielle and Renate died in the early nineties. Renate took her own life, as did Gabrielle’s husband Robin in 1999.

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Robin and Gabrielle’s daughter Rachel William-Powell – who was speaking to BBC Radio Ulster ahead of the TV screening of a documentary on the murder – said that if the family had found out what happened to her grandfather Thomas sooner, it would have saved years of torment.

Reacting to a question from the BBC’s Chris Buckler about the government’s legacy bill – which includes a conditional amnesty for Troubles murders – Rachel said: "If someone came forward a year later it would have saved my family the years and years of grief and anxiety and worry”.

She said: "As part of this documentary, the team did reach out and find one of the men who was involved in Thomas’s murder. And I actually wrote a letter to him which the crew really really kindly handed to him. I come from a slightly different perspective. I lived in Belfast for three years, I went there for Uni and I also, just like my family, found the people so warm and so welcoming. My letter to the man in question was definitely one of forgiveness. A lot of these people, they go into it so young – there might be some sort of brainwashing element to it. I don’t necessarily think that they are bad people – they sometimes are god people that do bad things.

Rachel said she hoped the trauma didn’t pass down to her or her sister Tanya’s children. “Had we been able to go through this process… 30 years ago when mum died, we might have had a much better understanding of why she did what she did”, she said.

The documentary Face Down is available on the BBC iPlayer.

Related topics:IRA