A BUSINESSMAN who was violently attacked at his home had made many enemies, his mother told his inquest yesterday.
Undertaker and horse dealer Shaun Duffy was found lying face-down on a sofa at his home in Dungloe, Co Donegal, in June 2005.
He had been stabbed several times, suffered numerous blows to the head and an arrow had gone through his right arm.
Kathleen Duffy told the inquest into the death of her son at Letterkenny yesterday that he lived in fear and always locked the doors and windows of his home.
Despite an extensive Garda investigation, during which more than 1,000 people had been interviewed, nobody has been charged with his murder.
Mrs Duffy, who lived just 500 yards from her son at Meenacross, Dungloe, revealed: “He did have a lot of enemies and lived in fear of what might happen to him.”
Mr Duffy was found by his brother, Kevin, at 2.30pm on July 29th, after he had tried repeatedly to contact Shaun on his mobile phone and landline.
Kevin Duffy said he found him lying face-down on his sofa at his ransacked home.
There was blood all over the walls and doors and the furniture had been smashed up. He said the last time he had seen Shaun (36) was at 2.30am at his home just 500 yards from the scene of the murder.
They had been celebrating Kevin’s birthday in a local bar and had returned to his home to eat pizzas.
He said the dead man had been in “good form” and had not been fighting with anyone on the night.
However, Mr Duffy told the inquest he knew straightaway when he called to his brother’s home the following day that something was wrong.
“The inside door on the porch which my brother always used wasn’t locked. I knew straightaway something was wrong because he always locked it.
“I found Shaun inside lying face-down on the sofa and there was a lot of blood. I noticed a large gash on his head and an arrow in his arm. He was cold and I felt for a pulse but couldn’t get one. I knew straightaway he was dead,” said Mr Duffy.
Shaun Duffy was well known in the area, where he was also a nightclub bouncer.
Mr Duffy revealed how his brother had made about €20,000 from business transactions in the weeks before his death and was “flashing €500 notes about” in the locality.
He estimated he had approximately €10,000 of this money left when he was found dead.
Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis said a postmortem showed Mr Duffy had received four stab wounds to the body and nine blows to the head with a blunt object. An arrow from a crossbow had gone through Mr Duffy’s right forearm. The stab wounds to the chest, neck and abdomen were the most likely cause of death.
The inquest continues.