PSNI hold two men over Warrenpoint murders

The victims are believed to have died following a row between illegal immigrants.

Police in Northern Ireland were today given an extra 36 hours to question two Lithuanians about the brutal murder of two men found bludgeoned to death in deep undergrowth beside a Co Down golf course.

The victims are believed to have died following a row between illegal immigrants.

The scene where the two bodies were found is examined by security force members

They were among a group of Lithuanians who had been working on mushroom farms in the Newry and Mayobridge areas of Co Down.

One of the dead has been positively identified as Lithuanian and the other is thought to come from the Baltic state.

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The men being questioned were detained yesterday morning following a search of a house at Newry, Co Down, three miles from where the bodies were found outside Warrenpoint earlier in the week.

Detectives were given the extra time to question the men when they made an application at Banbridge Magistrates court in Co Down.

A third person arrested last night has since been released without charge, said the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Detectives have issued an appeal for information about a silver or grey Mazda 626 estate car.

The vehicle is left-hand drive and has foreign registration plates. Police said they urgently needed to hear from anyone who knew where the car was or who had seen it in the past few days.

Earlier yesterday, two men were taken into custody when police officers raided a house in Newry, three miles from where the bodies were discovered close to a golf course.

An interpreter has been called in to help detectives to question the pair.

The house at Sandy Street, Newry, was sealed off and is being forensically examined. It is believed police were also trying to trace two cars which may be linked to the deaths.

The post mortem on one of the victims was completed this afternoon and shows he died of a head wound inflicted by a blunt instrument. The examination of the second man is now under way.

It is also understood the pair, discovered naked from the waist down, had their throats slit.

Police believe both victims may have been killed at another location and then dumped at the site where a passer-by made the grim discovery.