A MAN was in custody last night following the violent deaths of four people, including two young children, at a house in Co Limerick yesterday.
The bodies of Sarah Hines (25) and her two children, Reece (3) and five-month-old baby Amy, were discovered at a house in the Hazelgrove estate at Gortboy, Newcastle West, shortly before 2pm yesterday.
The body of Ms Hines’s friend, Alicia Brough (20) from Rockchapel, Co Cork, was also found in the house. All four had been stabbed to death.
The two children were found in an upstairs bedroom, while the women were discovered in a room downstairs.
Just over two hours after the discovery, a 31-year-old man who was arrested in a pub in the west Clare seaside town of Kilkee on suspicion of the murders.
The suspect knew all four victims.
It is understood the man made a phone call to a retired garda yesterday afternoon informing him of what had happened at the house, and he immediately contacted gardaí at Newcastle West.
Local gardaí were alerted at 1.35pm and went straight to the scene, where the bodies were discovered.
Gardaí would not say for how long the bodies had lain there, but local sources suggested they may have been there for a number of hours before the alarm was raised.
A Garda spokesman said the man’s whereabouts were tracked to Kilkee after gardaí traced back the call he made to a public phone box in the town.
Gardaí were last night exploring the possibility that the man came to Kilkee by bus. He was arrested at 4.15pm while drinking in the Central Bar in the town.
A telephone kiosk was sealed off by gardaí for a technical examination. Armed members of the regional response unit in Galway, members of the detective branch in Ennis and local gardaí had joined in the search for the man yesterday.
At a press briefing in Newcastle West Garda station, Chief Supt Dave Sheahan described the four murders as “very traumatic” for the families of the deceased and for the people of Newcastle West.
He said all four victims had “come across a violent death”.
The State Pathologist and the Garda Technical Bureau are due to arrive at the scene today.
Chief Supt Sheahan confirmed gardaí were not seeking anybody else in connection with the murders.
“Our investigation started straight away and within 2½ hours, we were satisfied that the person that we were looking for in respect of this investigation was arrested by the gardaí in the Clare division,” he said.
“Something like this happening in Newcastle West is unreal. We haven’t had an incident of the nature for the last 15 years or even more.”
Chief Supt Sheahan appealed for anyone who had any information about activities around the house in Newcastle West in the last 24 or 36 hours to contact gardaí at Newcastle West on 069-20650, or the Garda confidential line on 1800-666 111.