GARDAÍ BELIEVE a woman whose remains were found in a luggage bag on wheels in Dublin had been strangled or suffocated and her remains walked to the spot where she was dumped beside some wheelie bins.
She had a plastic bag over her head and was fully clothed when found in the hold-all bag.
The discovery was made outside houses on St David’s Terrace, Blackhorse Avenue, on Dublin’s north side near the Phoenix Park early yesterday. The woman was black and gardaí believe she was from Africa.
The spot where the bag was found is not far from the junction with the busy North Circular Road and is very close to McKee Army Barracks.
Gardaí believe they have established the woman’s identity and that she was a 26-year-old originally from Malawi. Garda sources said it appeared she had been in Ireland for at least two years and was registered as a student with a small educational institution. She had a last-known address at a flat in Rathmines.
While the Garda investigation into her background and circumstances is in the early stages, sources said they have found no evidence of her having a husband or children in Ireland.
The murder investigation is based at the Bridewell Garda station, where a case conference was held yesterday to brief detectives and plan the investigation. Gardaí were expected to make a high-profile public appeal this morning for anyone who saw anybody wheeling a bag in the area on Saturday or for anyone who knew the dead woman to contact them.
The deceased was wearing jeans, boots, a top and a jacket when found. Gardaí believe she was killed on Saturday, her remains stuffed into the 2ft by 4ft bag and then walked to where she was dumped.
Witnesses have told gardaí they saw the bag as early as 7pm on Saturday but had no idea there was a body inside. The deceased was found at about 8.30am yesterday on St David’s Terrace when a passerby went to investigate the contents of the bag.
When it was opened, the woman’s body was clearly visible and the gardaí were alerted.
A large crime scene was immediately sealed off, with traffic into the area blocked for most of yesterday.
The bag with the remains inside was left untouched by gardaí until Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis arrived to carry out a preliminary examination at the scene. When he had completed his examination, the bag with the body still inside was taken to Beaumont Hospital in north Dublin where it was X-rayed.
Garda sources said this was done in order that the investigating team would have a clear record of the positioning of the body in the bag in the event this may somehow aid the investigation at a later date. Then the remains were taken to the State pathology facility in Marino.
A postmortem was carried out there by Dr Curtis yesterday afternoon. While the exact results of that examination had not been released last night, it concluded the woman was either strangled or suffocated.