A well-known Co Waterford horse breeder was found murdered in his home after he had returned from the funeral yesterday of schoolgirl Tara Whelan who was killed in a suicide bombing in Turkey last weekend. Conor Lally and Niall O'Connor report.
Dick Forristal was found dead at his home at Carrigavantry stud near Tramore at around 2.30pm.
His body was discovered in a downstairs room by a caller to the property who immediately alerted gardaí.
One line of inquiry being pursued by gardaí last night was that Mr Forristal, who was in his 60s, may have been killed when he disturbed burglars at the house on his return from the funeral. He had lost a large amount of blood.
Gardaí sealed off the house and members of the Garda Technical Bureau examined the scene. Fields around the house and farm were also sealed off and were being searched by gardaí in the event that a murder weapon had been discarded.
Locals said Mr Forristal's property had been targeted by burglars on several occasions. A Garda source said a series of burglaries had occurred in Tramore and the surrounding areas in recent days. The latest was on Wednesday when the house of a prominent local was targeted by thieves.
It is believed a gang is behind the recent robberies and that its members are known locally.
Mr Forristal's horse, Blue Corrig, was due to race at the upcoming Galway races.
One local, who did not wish to be named, said the community was in deep shock. "This is awful, he was a lovely man."
State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy travelled to Waterford yesterday and carried out a preliminary postmortem on the remains last night.
The Garda investigation was being treated as a suspicious death inquiry but was upgraded to a murder inquiry just before midnight when Prof Cassidy's examination confirmed that Mr Forristal had been murdered. A number of marks were found on his body. However, he had not been shot.
Detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which investigates all murders in the State, were dispatched to Waterford to help gardaí with the investigation.