GARDAI investigating the murder of Co Tipperary cattle dealer and farmer, Mr Danny Fanning believe robbery might not have been the motive for the attack.
Mr Fanning (73), a father of eight, was shot by an armed gang at his home in Stephenstown, Co Tipperary, on Tuesday night.
Supt Ned O'Dwyer, one of the two senior officers leading the investigation, said yesterday no money was taken from the Fanning home in Rosegreen by the armed gang.
Mr Fanning owned property worth £1.2 million and had just bought a £200,000 adjoining farm on the day of his death. The gang entered the Fanning home shortly before 8 p.m. on Tuesday.
They tied up Mr Fanning, his wife Bridget and their daughter Rosaleen in a downstairs bedroom before taking Mr Fanning into the kitchen, where he was shot
According to Garda sources, Rosaleen offered the gang a purse containing £150. However, it was discovered that they had left this behind.
Gardai are not certain the motive for the raid was robbery. "There was no money taken. We are obviously rethinking the motive and looking at everything.
"Initially it looked like robbery, because the house had been ransacked. Perhaps it was a robbery, but the gang did not get what they wanted," said Insp John Farrelly, of the Garda Press Office.
Gardai repeated their concern that the gang of three men - and perhaps a fourth - had detailed knowledge of Mr Fanning and his family.
The crime was well planned, gardai said. However, it is believed the gang did not intend to kill Mr Fanning as they shot him in the knee. One garda said a professional gang would know a shot in the knee could sever an artery, causing death.
According to the post mortem carried out by the State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, Mr Fanning died as a result of shock and haemorrhage due to a severing of, the main artery in the lower left as a result of a single gunshot. It is believed he died within half an hour of being shot.
Supt O'Dwyer said gardai had no reason to connect Mr Fanning's death with his being investigated for using the illegal growth promoter known asclenbuterol or "angel dust" on his farm.
He confirmed that Mr Fanning had been served with summonses in 1992 in relation to angel dust, but there were no subsequent prosecutions because of "legal technicalities".
Supt O'Dwyer said the Fanning home was still being examined by forensic, ballistic and photo graphic experts yesterday. The examination is due to be completed later today.
Yesterday Mr Fanning's son, Michael (32), asked anyone with information about his father's death to tell gardai. "The robbers were looking for money, and they shot him when they did not get it. He was known as a man who had money". He said his father had "no debts, no worries".
Mr Fanning's family gathered at Michael's home in Dually, outside Cashel, yesterday, where neighbours called to offer their condolences. Friends said his widow, Mrs Biddy Fanning, was "shattered" after the brutal death of her husband.
Locals in the small village of Rosegreen were still shocked and frightened yesterday as Mr Fanning's grave was being dug in the local graveyard. "There were fellows last night saying they were going to teach their wives how to use a shotgun. People are very worried," one local said.
Last night several thousand people attended the removal of Mr Fanning at 7.30 p.m. Mourners entered Devitts funeral home in Cashel, Co Tipperary, from before 5 p.m. when a long queue formed.
It was almost 10 p.m. before the cortege arrived at St Thomas, the Apostle Church in Rosegreen just two miles from where Mr Fanning was shot on Tuesday night.