Gardaí believe a woman who almost died after being stabbed by a man who broke into her home, may have been targeted by somebody paid to kill her.
The investigation into the attack is examining the theory that the perpetrator did not know the victim, ESB lawyer Violet Quigley, and that the knife attack was not the result of a burglar being disturbed.
Instead, the investigating team at Coolock Garda station believe a man known to Ms Quigley wanted her dead as a part of a personal dispute and that he paid a criminal to attack her.
A man in his 30s was arrested in Dublin’s north inner city yesterday morning and taken for questioning to Coolock Garda station. He was still being questioned last night under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and can be detained for up to 24 hours without charge.
Suspect
Taking into account the suspension of his questioning overnight to allow him to sleep in a cell, the suspect can be detained until this afternoon. He was arrested on suspicion of having carried out the attack on Ms Quigley two years ago.
Ms Quigley (46) was stabbed dozens of times in her bed in the hands, arms, legs, chest and back at her home in Donaghmede Park, north Dublin, at about 11.30pm on Friday, April 8th, 2011.
She managed to make her way into the front bedroom, opened the window and leaned out screaming for help. A number of residents heard her shouts and when they ran to her house the hall door was open.
The neighbours found Ms Quigley collapsed but still conscious. She was taken to Beaumont Hospital and after undergoing surgery and a large number of blood transfusions she was placed on a life-support machine and survived.
The man who attacked her was masked and armed with a knife and a second weapon, which gardaí described at the time as a blunt object. Ms Quigley lived alone and while there had been a burglary at her home just days before she was attacked, gardaí do not believe the man who attacked her was a burglar.
Gardaí were last night questioning the arrested man about his alleged role in carrying out the attack.
