Two of the men questioned by gardaí in connection with the murder of Dublin woman, Ms Rachel O'Reilly six weeks ago were released last night without charge, reports Conor Lally in Drogheda.
The pair - a man in his thirties, considered to be the chief suspect in the case, and a former member of the Defence Forces in his forties - were released within an hour of each other last night.
A 36-year-old woman from south Dublin who was arrested on Tuesday, was still detained in Garda custody in Balbriggan, Co Dublin, last night, but was expected to be released without charge.
She and the 44-year-old man had been arrested under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act on suspicion of withholding information during interviews with detectives in recent weeks. Both are close associates of the man who was arrested yesterday.
A crowd of some 40 to 50 locals had started congregating outside the Garda station from 7 p.m.
The man considered to be the chief suspect in the killing of the north Co Dublin woman had been arrested yesterday just before 10.30 a.m. at his home near Naul village and was questioned by detectives at Drogheda Garda station. He was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. He was held for an initial six-hour period which was extended for a further six hours.
Ms O'Reilly (30) was found dead at her home in Baldarragh on October 4th by her mother, Ms Rose Callely. The alarm was raised when Ms O'Reilly failed to collect one of her two children from a creche.
When Ms Callely went to the house, she found her daughter dead in the bedroom. Gardaí believe she was killed shortly after returning home that morning.
A post mortem later revealed she had died from head wounds inflicted with a blunt instrument.
Although the scene of the crime suggested a break-in, Ms Callely said she felt the robbery was staged.
Money in Ms O'Reilly's purse was untouched. Towels and a camera were the only items missing from the house.
Ms O'Reilly's husband, Mr Joe O'Reilly, said if his wife had disturbed a burglar she would have left the house immediately and raised an alarm on her mobile phone. He said he believed his wife's killer may have used the missing towels to clean the blood away after the murder. Ms O'Reilly's family said it was possible she may have been attacked by somebody who knew her, who then killed her in order to hide his identity.
Ms O'Relly's husband and mother have appeared on RTÉ news bulletins and on The Late Late Show appealing for information from the public to assist gardaí in their investigation.