A postmortem carried out on the body of an elderly Co Mayo man has revealed he died in suspicious circumstances, gardaí said today.
The body of 72-year-old John Gaughan was found in the driveway of his home at Blacksod, Ballina, at around 12.20pm on Sunday.
A postmortem was carried out at Mayo General Hospital by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy at last night. Gardaí said they were not releasing the results of this postmortem "for operational reasons".
They are appealing for information from anyone who was in the area of the house at Blacksod or who saw the dead man between 8pm on Saturday and 12.20pm on Sunday to contact them at Belmullet Garda Station (097 81910).
Supt Joseph Gannon said last night that there were injuries to the body and that the death was "highly suspicious". The scene was examined by the Garda Technical Bureau before the body was taken to hospital.
A van not belonging to the dead man was taken is being examined, and house-to-house inquiries are being done by gardaí.
Fr Michael Harrison, a curate based locally in Binghamstown, said the sudden death had come as a deep shock.
Meanwhile, gardaí in Donegal are also treating the death of an elderly man whose body was found behind a holiday home at Meendernaslua, near Rannafast as suspicious.
The body was found at about 5.30pm yesterday by a construction worker on a nearby building site.
A postmortem was carried out today at Letterkenny General Hospital.