Mobile phone may hold clues as to killer of Latvian man

Gardaí believe the missing mobile phone of a Latvian man found dead face down in a field may hold vital clues about who killed him.

The Sony Ericson silver slide phone owned by the dead man Deniss Timosejevs (22) was not on his person when his remains were discovered and has not been found during the Garda investigations of recent days.

However, senior Garda sources said they are hopeful the records from the phone will show where Mr Timosejevs was in the period before he was killed and where the phone was taken to when its owner’s body was dumped in the field close to his home in Applewood, Swords, north Co Dublin.

Supt Ronan Galligan, who is heading the investigation from Swords garda station, said the death was now being treated as suspicious.

“The last time he was seen it was Easter Monday and it was early in the evening.... in the Thornleigh area of Applewood. He left his house to go for a walk in the surrounding area. So we are looking for anybody that was out walking or driving in the Applewood or Balheary areas (in Swords) that may have seen Deniss.”

He said the dead man was of distinctive appearance, at 5ft in height and of very slight build. He was wearing an orange and black top and Barcelona football club scarf.

“We are also interested in some personal possessions of his that are also missing; a Sony Ericson silver slide phone, his Latvian driving licence and his AIB bank card.”

“He came over here, a young man trying to make a living. He was very well respected by his employers and the people who knew him well.”

The investigating team has enlisted the assistance of mobile phone operators to map the route of the missing phone by a process of triangulation. It involves establishing what mobile phone masts the phone took its signal from before and after Mr Timosejevs died. Gardaí believe that information may lead to the phone being found, enabling a forensic examination. They are also of the view that the location of the phone after the killing may indicate where the killer went afterwards or might establish the place of death.

The same method was used by the Garda to place convicted killer Joe O’Reilly at or around his home in Naul, north Co Dublin, on the morning his wife Rachel O’Reilly was killed, and at the time of the murder, when he claimed he was elsewhere.

Body found by farmer

Mr Timosejevs was found dead in a field in Balheary just north of Swords village at around 2pm on Tuesday. The body of the 22-year-old from Ludza, Latvia, was discovered when a farmer went to spray fertiliser on the field.

Gardaí are exploring the theory that he died elsewhere and as taken to the field where he was found in an effort to conceal the location and circumstances of his death.

Gardaí believe his phone, drivers licence and bank card may have been taken in an effort to frustrate the identification of the dead man. Gardaí were only able to establish who he was when people who knew him read in Wednesday’s newspapers the description of the clothes he was wearing when found and rang Gardaí.

Initially Gardaí believed Mr Timosejves may have fallen or jumped from a mobile phone mast in the field where his remains were found. However, this was later discounted when the findings of the post mortem and an examination of the scene did not support that contention.

Members of the Garda Technical Bureau took the unusual step of returning to the scene on Wednesday evening with Deputy State Pathologist Dr Khalid Jaber to examine it again after the post mortem results became known.

The dead man had suffered a broken arm and internal injuries. Gardaí believe he was attacked or was the victim of a hit and run on Monday evening and then moved and left in the field.

Mr Timosejevs lived in Thornleigh Place, Applewood, Swords, less than 500 metres from where his body was found. He had come to Ireland in 2011 and was working at a discount retailer at the Pavilions shopping centre in Swords, though he was a qualified computer engineer.