GARDAÍ BELIEVE a man was stabbed to death at a property in Cavan after a number of uninvited men barged their way in, in what sources described as a “house invasion”.
The dead man, from Romania, was stabbed during a row and died at the scene. He had arrived in Ireland only at the end of last week.
The incident occurred at a rented apartment at Connolly Court, Connolly Street, Cavan, just after 11pm on Saturday.
The man’s partner was with him and is believed to have witnessed the killing. She is a Romanian national.
Garda sources said it appeared that a number of men, also believed to be from Romania, arrived at the couple’s apartment uninvited on Saturday night.
When they were not initially allowed into the property they barged in against the will of the couple and appear to have then taken control of the apartment.
During that confrontation, gardaí believe one of the uninvited visitors stabbed the victim. His injuries proved fatal and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
His name had not been released by gardaí last night but he has been named locally as Costel Cretu, who was in his 40s and is said to have arrived in Ireland as recently as last Thursday.
The Irish Times understands gardaí in Cavan had raided properties in the area in recent weeks on suspicion they were linked to prostitution. Gardaí are trying to establish whether those who attacked Mr Cretu are suspects in that prostitution investigation in the town. The dead man was not known for any involvement in crime.
When the alarm was raised on Saturday night and local gardaí arrived on the scene, the men who had invaded the property had fled.
The apartment was sealed off and the victim’s body was left there overnight pending the arrival of State Pathologist Marie Cassidy yesterday morning.
After Dr Cassidy carried out a preliminary examination of the body at the scene, it was removed to Cavan General Hospital for a postmortem. The Irish Times understands Mr Cretu was stabbed once.
The apartment in which the murder took place remained sealed off yesterday and underwent examination by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.
Garda sources said because Mr Cretu had arrived in the State only recently, little was known about him. Gardaí spoke to the dead man’s partner yesterday. She was said to be in shock.
Detectives working on the murder case are hopeful that when she is able speak to gardaí at length with an interpreter she may be able to tell them what happened and identify those involved.
Gardaí have appealed for anyone in or near the apartment block at the time, or who may have seen anything suspicious outside to contact them.
