Denise and Joe Byrne had planned it perfectly: The Irish couple were taking a Pacific Ocean cruise ending in Los Angeles. Once they disembarked, they’d meet up with an old friend living in the area.
From the ship, they spoke to their friend twice on Friday, Feb. 17 — they’d known David O’Connell since their college days.
Now, their friend was a prominent Catholic Bishop in the L.A. region, ministering to his flock here for decades. After so long in America, Denise Byrne said she was amazed he still had his accent from growing up in Cork, Ireland.
In fact, from a previous visit he made to the home country, she got the impression O’Connell made a point of speaking in his lilting brogue while in the U.S.: He wanted people here to know where he was from.
“I think he actually felt safe with his Cork accent,” she said.
On Saturday, their son called them from Ireland. He told them O’Connell was dead.
The news of what happened to O’Connell brought the Byrnes to his Hacienda Heights home along with other mourners on Monday, Feb. 20.
Out in front, a memorial of flowers and candles grew over the course of the day. One person left a shamrock hanging from O’Connell’s mailbox.
Those who came described O’Connell as a bishop who exuded kindness and showed true passion for his work.
Much of his ministry was dedicated to serving L.A.’s most vulnerable: Since he was ordained here as a priest in 1979, he supported undocumented immigrants and counseled residents of some of the region’s most violent neighborhoods.
How violence could come for someone known as a peacemaker became clearer on Monday, Feb. 20: Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigators said they had arrested the husband of O’Connell’s housekeeper, 61-year-old Carlos Medina.
Sheriff Robert Luna said investigators believed Medina drove to O’Connell’s house on Saturday, shooting him at least once in the upper torso as he laid in his bed, then leaving him for dead.
Medina was…
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