The senior garda leading the investigation into the murder of Ennis hackney driver Mr Liam Moloney (56) said that crucial witnesses to the crime have yet to come forward. Mr Moloney was murdered while working last Friday and was buried yesterday.
On the fifth day of the investigation, Supt John Kerin of Ennis Garda Station confirmed that gardaí have now narrowed the time-frame in which Mr Moloney was murdered to 50 minutes as a result of witnesses coming forward.
They believe he was murdered in his cab between 7.30 and 8.20 p.m. He revealed that Mr Moloney last spoke to a friend at 7.30 p.m. at Mill Road, Ennis, on Friday evening after dropping off a fare to Clarecastle.
The man who ordered the last fare from Mr Moloney at Ennis Cabs to Clarecastle at 7.14 p.m. came forward to be interviewed by gardaí on Tuesday night and has been eliminated from their inquiries.
Supt Kerin said that Mr Moloney's car was spotted by a member of the public at 8.20 p.m. outside Considine's pub, Barefield, four miles outside Ennis on the main Limerick-Galway route.
No evidence has come to light suggesting there was more than one killer involved. However, gardaí are keeping an open mind and are still searching for a motive .
Supt Kerin said yesterday: "There are people out there still with key information. Whoever committed the crime had to have blood on their hands, their clothes. People had to see the killer or killers hitching or getting a lift in Barefield. We need those people to contact us.
"Obviously that 50-minute period is crucial. We are looking for people who may have noticed anything suspicious in that time span or saw the hackney car, a maroon coloured Mazda, registration 97 D 49218, on the road between Ennis and Ruan and between Ruan and Barefield.
Supt Kerin praised the scale of the public response to the murder investigation.
He said forensic examination of the car has yet to be completed, while tests were also being carried out on Mr Moloney's two-way radio hand-set that was recovered near where the body was found.
Gardaí are satisfied that Mr Molony was murdered in his car, at a different location to where his body was found in a field at the entrance to Port House, Ruan.
No drag marks were found on the grass, indicating that Mr Moloney's body was lifted to where it was found. Over 60 gardaí are involved in the investigation.
The murder has shattered the community, mourners were told yesterday. At Mr Moloney's funeral Mass in the Pro-Cathedral, Ennis, Father Paul Ryan said: "We are totally appalled by the taking of Liam's life. Every instinct in us revolts against it, and revolts against the disrespect for life which is sadly creeping into Irish society, and raises very fundamental questions about where our values lie and where we are going as a people."
A large congregation joined the widow, Mrs Eileen Moloney, and their four sons, David, Ronan, Peter and Shane.
The dead man's former work colleagues at Aer Lingus formed a guard of honour outside the church.
