Gardaí believe man found dead in Kildare killed in violent weekend assault

A man whose remains were discovered a house in Co Kildare at the weekend had been assaulted and died from his injuries, gardaí suspect. The investigation team has committed all of the resources of a homicide inquiry to the case and are working on a definite line of inquiry.

A suspect was detained on Sunday. He was taken to a Garda station in Kildare for questioning and that man remained in custody on Monday.

The dead man had been living in the house at Eustace Demesne, Naas, where his remains were discovered by gardaí at lunchtime on Sunday. It is believed he had been living in the estate, on the outskirts of Naas, where he shared the house with at least one other person.

The alarm was raised when a person called to a Garda station and reported a suspected murder had taken place at the property.

When gardaí called to the house to investigate the claim they found the body of the dead man in the garden. The scene was immediately sealed off when gardaí made the discovery at about 1.30pm.

Investigating gardaí set about identifying the dead man and quickly confirmed he was one of the residents, with a big criminal investigation commencing.

“The body has since been removed to the mortuary at Naas General Hospital,” a statement from the Garda said of the remains being taken from the scene on Sunday for a postmortem.

That examination by a pathologist was expected to take place at the hospital on Monday afternoon and will determine the cause, and approximate time, of death. Gardaí said those results would determine the course of the inquiry, though sources said the man’s death was being treated as a homicide.

The investigation team in Naas Garda station is working on the theory the man was assaulted at some point over the weekend and died from those injuries.

They were also hopeful a technical examination of the scene, as well as analysis of the dead man’s clothes and the interior of the property, would yield forensic evidence. That evidence could prove crucial in determining how the deceased was killed and who was responsible.

The suspect (40s) is being questioned under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. It allows for gardaí to question him for up to 24 hours without charge. However, that 24-hour period of interviews can take much longer to elapse if a suspect opts to sleep overnight or takes other rest periods.