A man has been arrested by gardaí investigating a murder in Youghal, Co Cork.
Mikey O’Shea (31) was found dead in his burning flat in the town early yesterday morning. A postmortem revealed he died of a knife wound.
A man in his 20s was arrested this morning in Cobh in connection with Mr O’Shea’s death. He is being detained at Midleton Garda station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.
It’s understood that Mr O’Shea’s body was found wrapped in a duvet under a bed by firefighters who, equipped with breathing apparatus, entered Mr O’Shea’s downstairs flat and managed to get him out into a hallway where a paramedic worked to try to resuscitate him.
He was pronounced dead at the scene but it was noticed he had a serious knife wound to his neck and gardaí cordoned off the scene. While the downstairs flat was badly damaged, it appears there was no sign of forced entry, suggesting Mr O’Shea, who was found dressed, may have allowed his killer entry to the flat.
A technical team was expected to begin combing the flat for signs of a murder weapon today.
Mr O’Shea’s flat is one of 15 in the building, which is 20 yards from Youghal’s Clock Tower. Gardaí have begun taking statements from the other residents of the building.
Gardaí also began door-to-door inquiries on North Main Street to see if anyone saw or heard anything suspicious in the area, while detectives have also begun examining CCTV footage from a number of shops and businesses.
Detectives have established that Mr O’Shea was last seen alive around 10pm, when he attended a meeting in Youghal.
Gardaí have appealed to anyone with information to contact Youghal gardaí on 024-92200.