Gardaí believe a that man stabbed to death while babysitting his grandchildren was killed when someone known to him lost control following a simmering dispute.
Detectives investigating the killing of Michael Gannon (55) at his daughter’s house in Skerries, north Co Dublin, on Thursday evening said he had been involved in a dispute at a party last month with a person close to the dead man.
Gardaí are investigating a theory that a row over a barking dog may have triggered a confrontation in which the attacker produced a knife.
Gardaí last night repeated their appeal for anybody who may have seen anything suspicious in the vicinity of the crime scene on the Mourne Park estate in the hour or so leading up the murder just before 6pm to contact them.
Mr Gannon was babysitting his two grandchildren when he was stabbed. The children are not believed to have witnessed the attack in the hallway at the front door. However, they witnessed the aftermath of the violence. Detectives investigating the case have found a knife they believe was used in the killing.
Members of the Garda Technical Bureau have examined Mr Gannon’s daughter’s house. They have also searched and examined a nearby property where the suspect locked himself in for a period after the fatal attack before he agreed to come out to speak to gardaí.
A man was arrested not long after the murder.
He was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, allowing for his detention for up to 24 hours. With periods of rest, sleep and medical treatment, those detained under the provision can often spend much long than 24 hours in a Garda station after arrest.
The suspect was still being held late last night at Balbriggan Garda station as gardaí consulted the Director of Public Prosecutions to try to determine whether the evidence warranted charging the person.
Gardaí arrived on the scene on Thursday at teatime after they were alerted to the disturbance. Mr Gannon was dead and the suspect was locked into a nearby property. After a postmortem confirmed Mr Gannon had been stabbed, the investigation was upgraded to murder.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Balbriggan Garda station at 01-802 0510.
