Gardaí have launched a murder inquiry after a postmortem on a man whose body was taken from a burning house in Tipperary revealed that he had been stabbed.
The man was named last night as Fergus Roche (30), a single man from Cooleens Close, Clonmel.
Gardaí were alerted to the incident by a unit of the local fire brigade which had been called to a house fire at about 5.30am on Saturday in Heywood Close, Clonmel.
When the fire brigade reached the scene and began bringing the fire under control they recovered Mr Roche's body. Initial examinations indicated that he had a number of wounds to his body and gardaí immediately began treating the death as suspicious.
State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy was alerted and the body was then removed to Dublin City Morgue for a full postmortem examination.
When the results of this became known on Saturday, the investigation was upgraded to a murder inquiry.
Gardaí are working on the theory that Mr Roche was attacked at or close to the house where he was found a short time before the fire broke out. The fire was confined to one area of the property.
A number of people who were known to him have been interviewed by gardaí but there had been no arrests last night. Mr Roche was a father of one. His home is just a short distance from the property at Heywood Close where he was found dead.
The scene of the fire was sealed off immediately after his body was discovered. It was examined throughout Saturday and yesterday by Garda technical experts. Clonmel gardaí conducted house-to-house inquiries in the area over the weekend. They have appealed for anybody with information on the killing to come forward.
Detectives are also anxious to speak to anybody who may have been in Mr Roche's company on Friday night or in the early hours of Saturday morning. Clonmel gardaí can be contacted on 052-77640.
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