Murdered Romanian to be formally identified

Gardaí are this evening expected to formally identify the Romanian man whose badly beaten body was found in a suitcase in Dublin…

Gardaí are this evening expected to formally identify the Romanian man whose badly beaten body was found in a suitcase in Dublin’s Royal Canal as 21-year-old Mr Adrian Bestea.

 Adrian Bestea
Mr Adrian Bestea (21), whose body was found on July 20th

Gardaí have been waiting on medical and dental records from Romania to formally identify the man.

The dead man’s mother, Ms Marianna Moraru, flew into Dublin last night and is helping gardaí with their inquiries.

Ms Moraru said her son had been living happily in Ireland since 1999. "He was satisfied there. He phoned home twice a week. He worked in construction," she said.

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Gardaí investigating the case are trying to find a number of people, including the man's Russian girlfriend, from a house in Sandymount, where Mr Bestea had once lived.

A small quantity of blood that may be related to the death has been found in a flat at the house by a Garda forensics team. The blood is being analysed to see whether it came from the victim.

The man is believed to have been dead for 10 to 12 days before being found in the canal and may have been in the water for five days. People on their way to a football match at nearby Croke Park on July 15th reported seeing the suitcase in the canal.

He died due to head injuries inflicted by a blunt instrument. It is believed he arrived at Rosslare in 1999 and had been working on building sites in Ireland since.

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy

Eoin Burke-Kennedy is Economics Correspondent of The Irish Times