MATTHEW Swan's body was found just 20 yards from the black plastic bags he called his home. There was a blue Walkman in his coat and 32p in his back pocket.
Notes written on the back of cereal and sweet boxes, told of his wish to end his own life, but the 54-year-old Dublin man did not commit suicide, he died of a heart attack last December. Hypothermia may also have been a factor.
His body was found, lost, and found again six days later, by which time Matthew Swan had been dead for at least two weeks.
They used to call him Cliff Richard - he was a fan of the rock star. Mr Dan Doran, the ranger who patrolled the Phoenix Park where Matthew had slept for the past three years, recalls a very quiet man who never looked for notice. On occasion he would make small talk but nothing more.
He slept in the People's Gardens near Aras an Uachtarain. Sometimes, friends from the North Circular Road would bring him sandwiches, but he kept very much to himself.
Three weeks before his body was found, Mr Doran saw Matthew, in a woollen cap and tweed jacket, strolling through the park. "He waved at me. He seemed all right. It was the last time he was seen alive.
Matthew used to live in his father's house on Bannow Road in Cabra with his partner, Betty Roche, and their three sons. The two met in a Dublin pub almost 20 years ago. He had just split up with his wife when they started going out together. Two years later, their first child was born. Two more sons were born in the following years.
"We started living together. But it soon became obvious to me that Matthew had psychiatric problems He often spoke about killing himself and he was always depressed. He was admitted to St Brendan's Hospital on numerous occasions but he wouldn't stay there," Ms Roche said. "His greatest fear was of dying in St Brendan's as his mother had before him.
On one occasion, in the attic of their home, he tried to kill him self. "But he would never have the courage to take his own life. It was a cry for help," she said.
Five years ago, the pattern of Matthew Swan's life changed. He would leave the house in the middle of the night and not come home. He began sleeping rough.
"He said he was concerned about me and the children. He said he was in the way and that we should get on with our lives," Ms Roche said
At one point, Mr Swan stayed at a hostel on Oxmantown Road for about, eight weeks but left there, saying he was happier living in the Phoenix Park. His brother found him there and brought him back to the family home on a few occasions.
"We washed him and went out to get him new clothes. When we came back he was gone. He only spoke about street life.
"He was very depressed all the time."
In his youth, Mr Swan had been a hen drinker, but had cut down on, alcohol. He had not taken drink or drugs on the night he died. Five foot nine, with grey hair and a grey beard, he was stocky in build but had lost a lot of weight over the last two years.
"The last time I saw him, last April or May, hem looked very poor, says Betty. He told me to get another man. He told me to get on with my life and he said he loved me and the kids. He said if he won the Lotto he would give it to me. He said he harmed no one but himself."
A few months before Mr Swan's death, a woman walking through the People's Garden in the park found a suicide note written on a piece of a cardboard box. She gave it to gardai. The writing matched a note found on the body of Matthew Swan. It read: "Give all to Betty".