A 28-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a woman who was found dead after a “horrific” attack and a fire at a flat in Derry at the weekend.
He has been taken to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite for questioning.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said on Monday the victim was 65-year-old Montserrat Martorell Elias.
Ms Martorell Elias’s body was discovered in the bedroom of the ground-floor flat in Harvey Street near the city centre after firefighters responded to a report of a fire at the property at about 4.15am on Saturday, August 24th.
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The PSNI launched a murder investigation after she was found to have sustained multiple injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
In an earlier update on Monday, Detective Chief Inspector Anthony Kelly said that from their enquiries so far, “the victim suffered a horrific attack”.
“Our detectives are working at full pace to establish exactly what happened,” he said. “At this stage, we are keen to speak with a white man, aged in his 30s, who was seen in the area wearing a grey jacket with hood up, blue jeans, trainers and a light coloured shirt between 1am and 2am.”
He also cautioned against “online speculation”.
“I am aware of online speculation which is extremely unhelpful and deeply distressing to Ms Elias’ family and would ask people to refrain from engaging in this.
“We will investigate any posts online which could potentially prejudice judicial proceedings.”
The senior police officer said his thoughts were “first and foremost with Ms Elias’ family and friends in Spain, who are left trying to come to terms with their loss.”
He said the investigation was at an early stage and appealed for “anyone who may have any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to contact detectives”.
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