Gardaí are opening a murder investigation into the death of a 30-year mother-of-three in Cork.
The body of Rose Patterson of Park View, Clonakilty, was found in an upstairs flat at Connolly Street in the town at about 11.40am yesterday. Gardaí believe the young woman had been dead for at least six hours at that stage.
Ms Patterson was pronounced dead at the scene and the postmortem, completed this afternoon, is believed to confirm that she died from stab wounds.
Ms Patterson had a young son with a Turkish national, Hadim Kedik (32), and Mr Kedik was found unconscious at the flat. His condition is described as stable at Cork University Hospital.
Gardaí discovered that the couple's two-and-a-half-year-old son, Firhan, had been in the flat at the time of the incident, and he was yesterday being cared for by relatives.
Later, gardaí had to break into Ms Patterson's home at Park View, where they found her other two children, Naomi (8) and Veronica (5), had spent the night alone after their mother failed to return home on Wednesday afternoon.
Gardaí were waiting for permission from doctors at CUH to interview Mr Kedik, but it is understood officers believe that wounds to his wrists and neck were self-inflicted.