Police in Belfast launched a murder investigation after a post-mortem revealed that a man who was thought to have died in a housefire had sustained multiple stab wounds and cuts to the head before the blaze.
The body of Mr Sean May (58) was found in bed at the rear of his bungalow at Moyard Park, off the Springfield Road in west Belfast, early on Wednesday morning after firefighters extinguished the blaze.
Det Chief Insp Phil Wright yesterday confirmed that Mr May had died from the stab wounds, not the fire.
A number of people have been arrested and were being questioned by the RUC last night.
Meanwhile, a 20-year-old man was in a stable condition yesterday after being shot three times in a paramilitary-style attack in Belfast on Wednesday night.
Two masked men burst into the bedroom of a house at Harrisburg Street, struck the man on the head with a stick and held him on a bed before shooting him in the right knee, the left thigh and left shoulder.
The director of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Bureau, Mr Vincent McKenna, blamed the UDA for the attack.
The leader of the Ulster Democratic Party, the political wing of the UDA, Mr Gary McMichael, yesterday condemned the attack.
"The only way to deal with anti-social behaviour is to report it to the police," he said.
Police investigating an explosion at Gransha High School in Bangor on Wednesday night have ruled out paramilitary involvement.