Gardaí in North Cork have launched a murder inquiry after receiving the results of a postmortem examination on the body of a 31-year-old woman which confirmed she had died as a result of foul play.
Gardaí have not released the results of the postmortem examination on Paula Canty for operational reasons, but it is understood the examination by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margot Bolster confirmed that Ms Canty died as a result of being stabbed.
Gardaí were alerted when paramedics arrived at Ms Canty’s top floor apartment at the Belfry on Bridewell Lane in Mallow at around midday on Friday and found her unresponsive in the kitchen-cum-living room area with a wound to her chest.
Detectives were immediately suspicious as a male caller, who rang the emergency services a short time earlier, reported that Ms Canty had attempted to self-harm but investigators found no evidence of that.
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Chief Supt Vincent O’Sullivan appointed a senior investigative officer to head the investigation. An incident room was set up in Mallow Garda station and all the resources of a murder investigation were allocated.
Gardaí have begun door-to-door inquiries in the area and believe that Ms Canty was attacked sometime after 9pm on Thursday night. They believe that she had spent much of Thursday with two men who were known to her.
Investigators sealed off the apartment building and Garda technical experts carried out a detailed examination of the apartment, beginning on Friday evening and continuing throughout Saturday.
Gardaí also sealed off a second property at Shoulders Lane, approximately 800 metres from Bridewell Lane, on Saturday morning in the belief that the two men who were with Ms Canty may have gone there after they left her.
Ms Canty, a native of Kinsale in west Cork, had been living at the flat for the past six months.
Investigators have also been examining a large amount of CCTV footage from Bridewell Lane and Shoulders Lane as well as around the centre of Mallow town in an effort to try to establish who entered and left both properties in the period before and after the killing
Detectives also seized a number of mobile phones for examination in the belief that they may contain evidence of calls and text messages that could assist them in the investigation.
Gardaí have yet to recover a weapon, but the Cork County North Divisional search team began a search along Main Street and surrounding streets in Mallow in the belief that the killer may have taken a knife from the Belfry after the stabbing and discarded it.
Gardaí have renewed an appeal for any witnesses or anyone with available camera footage, including dashcam recordings from the Bridewell Lane area in Mallow between 9pm on Thursday and 10am on Friday morning to contact them at Mallow Garda station on 022 31450.
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