Gardaí in Co Cork last night opened a murder inquiry after preliminary post mortem results showed the man found in a slurry tank on a farm near Dunmanway died of blunt force trauma to the head, writes Barry Roche, Southern Correspondent, in Dunmanway, Co Cork
Although formal identification is still awaited, it is believed to be the body of an Englishman in his mid- to late 30s who had been living in the Kilmichael area between Dunmanway and Macroom for the past seven or eight years.
While gardaí remained tight-lipped about the focus of their investigation, it is understood detectives believe the man was fatally assaulted in a house at another location about two weeks ago and then brought to the farm at Shanlaragh and dumped in the slurry pit.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster began a postmortem yesterday evening on the remains of the man, whom gardaí believe died after being assaulted during a row at a house in west Cork.
The body was recovered from the slurry pit at the farm at Shanlaragh, five miles north of Dunmanway and just off the main Dunmanway-Macroom road, by a team of divers from the Garda Water Unit yesterday afternoon.
Supt Pat Maher of Clonakilty Garda station requested the support of the water unit because of concerns about the danger of officers inhaling methane from the slurry pit.
The divers entered the tank using breathing apparatus to avoid being overcome by the gas.
A JCB digger was used to remove some of the concrete slabs surrounding the tank to facilitate the removal of the body.
Dr Bolster, who had earlier viewed the body while it was still in the slurry tank, was on hand to carry out a preliminary examination of the body when it was finally removed from the tank at about 3.30pm before the remains were transferred to Cork University Hospital for a postmortem. It is understood that gardaí received intelligence in the past few days on where the body had been dumped and they cordoned off the farm at Shanlaragh on Thursday morning and began their search.
Gardaí believe that the assault on the victim may have been witnessed by up to five other people and they are anxious to make contact with them to establish what happened.
Gardaí believe that a number of those people whom they wish to interview may have left for mainland Europe.
It is understood that contact has been made with at least one foreign police force in a bid to locate some of the group.
Meanwhile, officers in west Cork requested colleagues in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, to carry out a technical examination of a phonebox in the town after tracing a call made there late on Thursday night.
Garda technical experts from Waterford carried out a forensic examination of the phonebox, including fingerprinting the phone. CCTV footage from business premises in Dungarvan was also being examined in a bid to identify the caller.