Murdered Lisa Thompson remembered as ‘beloved mother’ and ‘loving daughter’

Ballymun woman’s funeral to take place Monday

Murdered mother of two Lisa Thompson will be laid to rest next Monday, almost a fortnight after her remains were found in her home in Ballymun, north Dublin. Gardaí believe the 52-year-old had been dead for up to two days before her body was found on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 10th, at her home at Sandyhill Gardens.

She had been violently attacked, suffering a large number of stab wounds. While a murder investigation has been underway since the discovery of her body, no arrests have been made to date.

Ms Thompson’s funeral notice described her as the “beloved mother” of Kyle and Brook and “loving daughter” of Bernadette. She is also survived by her sister and brother, Ashley and Stefan, and the notice said she would be “sadly missed and remembered with love” by all of her family and friends.

She is due to repose at Michael Doyle Funeral Home, Finglas village, on Saturday between 3pm and 5pm. Her removal is due to take place on Monday morning to the Church of the Holy Spirit, Ballymun, arriving for 10 o'clock funeral Mass. She will then be "laid to rest privately".

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Document

Gardaí have also confirmed a man who left a document owned by Ms Thompson at a Garda station two days after her remains were found has contacted them following a public appeal.

It is understood the man is not regarded as suspect in the case and after finding the document he decided to take it to Finglas Garda station, north Dublin, for safe keeping.

On Monday gardaí released a statement saying a document linked to Ms Thompson had been left with a member of staff, who was not a sworn Garda member, at reception in Finglas Garda station just after 7am last Thursday.

The man left without speaking to any Garda member and when gardaí realised the document he handed into the station was linked to the murdered woman, they launched an appeal via the media for the man to come forward.

In a statement Garda Headquarters, Phoenix Park, Dublin, confirmed the man had come forward and was helping gardaí with their inquiries.

Gardaí are studying the close relationships Ms Thompson had developed in recent months as part of the efforts to identify her killer. They believe she had befriended a number of people dealing in tablets sold on the illicit drugs market, and are trying to establish if her murder was in any way linked to that trade, even indirectly.

A concerned neighbour raised the alarm by calling 999, seeking an ambulance, just after 3pm last Tuesday week. When paramedics arrived at the house they called gardaí and the murder was discovered. Ms Thompson’s children were not living at the house with their mother.

The dead woman was originally from Ballymun, had gone to school there and also previously had a position in youth work in the area, though she was not in that role at the time of her murder.

Conor Lally

Conor Lally

Conor Lally is Security and Crime Editor of The Irish Times