THE FAMILY of a 34-year-old Irishman found dead in his apartment in Germany is to meet officials at the Department of Foreign Affairs today in a drive to have the German authorities reopen a police investigation into his death.
Matthew Fitzpatrick, from Portumna, Co Galway, was found in his apartment in Mannheim, Germany, on the morning of December 11th, 2010.
The German police took the position that the death was suicide, but his family does not believe Fitzpatrick took his own life.
A postmortem by the Deputy State Ppathologist, Dr Khalid Jaber, found his death was due to asphyxia caused by ligature strangulation. The pathologist said suicidal strangulation, suicidal hanging and third-party strangulation were all possibilities.
At postmortem Fitzpatrick had a number of injuries including a bruise to his head, abrasions and bruises to his face and back.
His sister, Mary Burke, who will meet officials at the Consular Assistance Unit today with her brothers Patrick and Stephen, said: “We want the German police to do a full investigation into Matthew’s death.