A 43-year-old man, charged with the murder of a Dublin man whose body was found in a freezer behind a fishmonger's shop in Galway city last month, has been remanded in custody following his appearance before Oughterard District Court in Connemara yesterday.
Edward Griffin, Cimín Mór, Cappagh Road, Salthill, Galway, is charged with the murder of Patrick McCormack (52), whose frozen remains were found by staff in a freezer room used by the Mermaid Fish Mongers in Henry Street, Galway, on June 13th last.
Det Sgt Willie Beirne gave evidence of charging the accused with murder in the early hours of yesterday morning following the accused's detention for questioning at Galway Garda station on Monday.
Two women, who were also detained for questioning at the time, were later released without charge.
Defence solicitor Adrian MacLynn said he would be making an application for bail on behalf of his client in the High Court in the coming days. Judge Mary Fahy remanded Mr Griffin in custody to appear before Harristown District Court on Friday.
Last month, Assistant State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis had to wait a week for the body to thaw before carrying out a postmortem.
Dr Curtis determined the victim died as a result of head injuries sustained in an assault but he could not say when death occurred.
Further extensive tests are being carried out on the body to determine the time of death and gardaí are hopeful they will soon be able to pinpoint the exact time of Mr McCormack's murder.
Mr McCormack, who was also known as Patrick Wynne, was last seen alive in mid-2002.