Crime of passion motive considered in Warrenpoint inquiry

Police are tonight investigating the possibility that the gruesome killing of two men dumped by a roadside in Co Down yesterday was a crime of passion.

As the bodies were taken from the scene at Warrenpoint for post-mortem examination, detectives confirmed they had yet to establish a motive for the killings.

But with their identities still a mystery, speculation that drugs bosses might have sanctioned the gruesome deaths began to fade.

Ship crews were also questioned by officers checking the possibility that the men may have been working on boats that docked on Warrenpoint harbour close to where the discovery was made.

No boats have reported anyone missing. But detectives were tonight examining the jewellery worn by one of the two men - both aged in their late 20s or early 30s - to see if it yielded any clues about why they were so brutally battered.

One police source said: "To me this looks like a crime of great passion or great hatred." Both men were bludgeoned to death and their bodies discarded in deep undergrowth close to a golf course.

It is understood the pair, discovered naked from the waist down, had their throats slit. However, all theories were still being examined.

Members of Travelling community are also questioned as part of the investigation while the movements of all boats docking in Warrenpoint harbour over the last 72 hours have been checked.

One of the bodies discovered yesterday at Mound Road was clothed in a zip-up green, red and blue striped cardigan. He had a gold earring in his left ear.

Police believe both victims may have been killed at another location and then dumped at the site where a passer-by made the grim discovery.

Chief Inspector Gary Hagan said: "There was a lack of blood in the immediate area so it's possible they were killed elsewhere and then transported here."

But with no-one in Northern Ireland reported missing, detectives have called in Interpol and police in the Irish Republic.

Chief Insp Hagan added: "It's peculiar that we haven't established identities. But this was a very brutal and violent murder."

Assembly member Mr P J Bradley, who visited the scene today, said: "There is no-one missing in the area, no-one reported missing even throughout Northern Ireland, and there's no indication whatsoever about the reason or the cause for these murders."

The grim spectacle reminded local people of the frequent dumping of bodies by terrorists along the border at the height of the Troubles.

But senior police sources cast doubt on that.

"By now if it was paramilitary there might have been a claim," one said.

"If they were leading players in drugs or gangsterism or paramilitary activity somebody might have reported them missing."

PA