The daughter of 83-year-old Eddie Fitzmaurice who was assaulted, tied up and left to die at his home in Bellaghy, Co Sligo 25 years ago has said she wants to know who was responsible before she dies.
Valerie Snee (78) was speaking after a jury at Sligo Coroner’s Court returned a unanimous verdict of unlawful killing in the case. Nobody has been charged in connection with the killing.
[ Relatives call for 'answers' on deathOpens in new window ]
Coroner Eamon MacGowan said Mr Fitzmaurice’s death following a “vicious and cowardly act” still had resonance for the people of Sligo, Mayo and across the entire west of Ireland who were saddened every time they passed his house and recalled the circumstances of his death.
Valerie Snee appealed to anyone who had information to come forward saying “they must have it on their conscience”.
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The jury found that Mr Fitzmaurice who lived over his drapery shop in the village close to the Sligo-Mayo border had died from hypothermia on May 5th, 1998, after being assaulted and tied up by an unknown person. They found that having been tied up he was unable to protect himself from the low ambient temperatures over a prolonged period of time.
The jury recommended that all vulnerable people and those living alone be provided with panic buttons.
Mr MacGowan said attacks on people in their own homes were “fraught with danger” as they could lead to injury “or worse death”.
Appealing to anyone who has information to come forward, Ms Snee said, “I am going on 79 and all I want before I die myself is to know who did this.”
Mr Fitzmaurice was last seen alive by two women who arrived to buy pillows on the evening of Friday, May 1st, 1998.
[ Gardaí say 1998 murder inquiry activeOpens in new window ]
In a report, Dr Marie Cassidy, the then deputy State pathologist who carried out the postmortem examination on May 7th, 1998, the day after Mr Fitzmaurice’s body was discovered, concluded that he had died on May 5th. “This does not tell us how long he survived trussed and naked but certainly it could have been more than one day, depending the ambient temperatures,” she found.
Dr Cassidy recorded injuries to his trunk and limbs which she said could have been as a result of falling to the floor “and/or trying to move once on the floor” with his wrists and ankles bound.
Surface injuries “would indicate that he had been alive and struggling against the bindings”, she found.
Dr Cassidy found bruises above the ears and on the right jaw which “could have been as a result of blows” but said these would not have caused or significantly contributed to his death and at most would have caused mild concussion. Injuries to his mouth were probably due to the gag being put in place or removed.
The retired State pathologist said Mr Fitzmaurice may have made some attempts to get help by moving over the floor towards the front window of the bedroom thus causing injuries around the knees, elbow and shoulder “before collapsing”.
“In this vulnerable position, that is, bound, semi-naked, lying on the floor near to an open window without food and water, he would succumb to the low temperature and become hypothermic, lapse into unconsciousness and die,” she said. “Depending on the external ambient temperature he could have remained alive for several days.”
The two customers who had visited Mr Fitzmaurice’s shop sometime after 8pm on Friday, May 1st at 8pm to buy pillows told the jury the shop was in darkness and Mr Fitzmaurice was in the kitchen. They gained access through the unlocked shop door. “He was in a jolly mood, his usual good form,” recalled one.
Mr Fitzmaurice was found on May 6th 1998, by a local man whose mother was concerned as the elderly man had not been seen for a few days. The young man climbed in an open rear window and found the 83 year old upstairs.
Retired Garda Robert McCallion who was based in Swinford arrived on the scene and recalled seeing two drawers pulled out in a chest of drawers in an upstairs bedroom with “a hammer and jemmy lying nearby”.
Local GP Dr Martin O’Brien, now deceased, pronounced Mr Fitzmaurice dead at the scene. He found rigour mortis present.
Mayo-based Garda Det Insp Dennis Harrington who is heading up the investigation into Mr Fitzmaurice’s death described it as “very much a live investigation”.
Speaking after the inquest the officer said it had been a very difficult day for the family having to listen to the “gruesome details of what happened to their father and grandfather”.
He said Gardaí, who believed the motive was robbery, were still appealing for information.
Sligo-based sergeant Keith Marron, who expressed sympathy to Mr Fitzmaurice’s son Billy, daughter Valerie Snee and grandson Trevor Snee who attended the hearing, and to his other children Oliver and Colette, described it as a “heinous crime”.
