Gardaí investigating the murder of a 61-year-old man at his home in Macroom, Co Cork, believe he may have been dead for several days before his body was found by a care worker on Tuesday.
Detectives believe Michael Foley may have been fatally assaulted in his chalet at the Annville Sheltered Housing complex sometime around the middle or end of last week.
Gardaí have established that Mr Foley collected a social welfare payment at Macroom Post Office last Wednesday, which is the last confirmed sighting of him so far established by investigators.
They have a statement from one witness who said they saw Mr Foley at about 10am on Saturday and are checking CCTV footage from around Macroom to try to confirm the report.
Housing in Ireland is among the most expensive and most affordable in the EU. How does that happen?
Ceann comhairle election key task as 34th Dáil convenes for first time
Your EV questions answered: Am I better to drive my 13-year-old diesel until it dies than buy a new EV?
Workplace wrangles: Staying on the right side of your HR department, and more labrynthine aspects of employment law
It is understood a postmortem carried out by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster confirmed Mr Foley had been dead for at least a number of days before he was found.
Investigators say they are keeping an open mind as to how many people may have been involved in the murder of Mr Foley, whose body was found with blunt force trauma and stab wounds. Officers say it is too early to rule out the possibility that the separated father-of-four was assaulted by more than one person.
“This investigation is still very much in its infancy, so we are ruling nothing in or out at this stage in terms of who was responsible for this fatal assault on Michael Foley,” said one informed source.
“Michael Foley was a familiar figure around Macroom and a very sociable sort of fellow, and it’s known that he frequently invited people he met in town back to the chalet at Annville.
“So it’s quite likely that the scenes-of-crimes examiners will find fingerprints and DNA evidence for more than a few people at the chalet, and we will all have to try and identify all those people.”
Gardaí are hoping that CCTV footage from the vicinity of Annville will help them identify who may have visited Mr Foley’s chalet, at which he had been living for approximately a year. They are also hoping CCTV footage from around Macroom may help identify who Mr Foley may have been associating with in the days and hours before his death.
[ Gardaí treating death of man in Macroom sheltered housing as suspiciousOpens in new window ]
“And we will also be examining Mr Foley’s mobile to see who he was in contact with in recent days, as well of course as seeing when he last used his phone, to help us narrow down when he was killed,” the source said.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Our In The News podcast is now published daily – Find the latest episode here
