Oliver Killeen - Conman and Bigamist
The Man with 14 Wives
The Man with Fourteen Wives
Oliver Killeen
Oliver J. Killeen is a conman and a multiple bigamist. He says of
himself: "Oliver Killeen might be some type of name, but really
it's just a cover for multiple personalities". He has nearly 200
fraud offences against his name, but his real claim to fame is that he
is one of the world's most prolific bigamists.
Killeen sometimes claims to have been born in New York, but the truth
is he was born in Castlebar, southern Ireland in 1937. He attended a
Christian Brothers School, leaving at the age of seventeen.
Young Oliver headed for London then on to Toronto with his Irish
sweetheart, Mary.
Oliver and Mary remained married for almost 20 years
and had eight children. Mary died in 1974 after contracting septicaemia,
she was 38 years old.
It was only after Mary's death that Killeen began his 30 year career
as a fraudster and bigamist. Now, at the age of 68 he still seems to
believe that his charm is irresistible to women.
Bigamy is just one of his cons, Killeen's other great ruse was
transforming himself from plain Oliver Killeen into the entirely bogus
Dr. Killeen, an American psychologist. He set himself up as a
relationships and addiction specialist, which is perhaps appropriate
given his history with marrying many women and the fact that he is an
alcoholic.
Oliver and Mary's Children
Killeen met his last wife, Margaret, in London while she was one of
his clients. They married in 1996 and had a daughter soon after. They
moved to Ireland hoping the psychotherapy business would really take
off. He conned his way onto the radio station TIP FM where the DJ Seamus
Martin interviewed him about his new psychological counselling practise.
Killeen had awarded himself a degree in psychology from Berkeley,
California and a PHD from Ontario< Canada, In reality, he has never
attended university, he felt he didn't need to. He didn't consider
psychology as a true science.
Killeen prospered, organising talks and seminars, even producing his
relaxation tapes. He wrote hundreds of articles for Irish newspapers,
and was, at this point, earning £5,000 per week.
The Relaxation Tape
He told Margaret that all his money was tied up in investments in
Canada and persuaded her to take out bank and credit card
processing loans to the
tune of £80,000. Margaret was not the first wife he had conned in this
way, In 1990 he managed to cheat Susan Robertson out of £100,000 in the
same way. She is still paying off this debt to this day.
In 2001, his career came to an abrupt end. He was the expert witness
in a sex-abuse case when the defence lawyer asked for confirmation of
his credentials. The truth was out, all of his qualifications were
bogus.
Killeen fled Waterford for London leaving behind many distraught
patients. He has never been charged for these deceptions. Killeen had
preyed on vulnerable women, all his ex-wives had mental problems of one
sort or another.
Some of the wives (those he can remember)
- Agnes Clooney, Accountant
- Barbara Daniels, Divorcee
- Teresa Steele, died 1999 from alcoholism
- Joyce Smith, Bank Clerk
- Gail Tuff, Divocee, hanged herself
- Susan Robertson, School Vice-Pricipal, conned for £100,000
- Ann Griffin
- Kathleen Chambers, Widow
- Margaret Curtin, conned out of £80,000
Margaret reported him to the police after receiving a letter from one
of his other wives. He was arrested, tried and convicted. He was
sentenced to 3 years at Isleworth Crown Court, one of the longest
sentences for bigamy in post-war Britain.
