Police opened two murder investigations in Belfast yesterday after two men were killed in separate stabbing incidents in different parts of the city on Sunday night.
Mr Mark Anthony Graham (37), was found dead at his home in Ebor Street, in the loyalist Donegall Road area, shortly after 7 p.m.
A man has been arrested in connection with his death. Detectives said Mr Graham was murdered between last Thursday and Sunday night.
In the second stabbing, Mr Michael Victor Johnston (33), from Finwood Park, Belfast, was killed and another man seriously wounded after a stabbing incident in a flat in south Belfast, shortly before midnight on Sunday. Mr Johnston's body was found at a flat in Linkview Park, after police were called to the scene.
A man has also been held by police in connection with this death.
Yesterday the murder scene at Ebor Street, in the loyalist Village area of Belfast, remained sealed off. "I was horrified when I heard that he had been killed," said a woman who knew the victim. "To think he was lying there dead for the past four days, and no one knew."
Mr Graham is understood to have moved to Ebor Street only a few weeks ago. It is believed he lived alone in the terraced house. He was last seen alive on Thursday. Police said a taxi-driver, whom they are anxious to trace, was heard sounding his horn outside the house between 10 a.m. and noon on Friday.
Mr Graham's body was found in a back room of the house around 7 p.m. on Sunday by a friend. Detectives are keen to hear from anyone who noticed any suspicious activity in the street or witnessed any commotion in Rockview Street around 2 a.m. on Friday.
Police have also started an investigation into the Linkview stabbing incident. Neighbours said they heard a commotion about 11.30 p.m. on Sunday. One woman said: "We just heard banging at a door and a few men shouting and then it all went quiet." Police were called to the scene at 11.45 p.m. on Sunday and sealed off the area. One man was found dead at the scene, while another taken to hospital for his wounds.
Neither incident is thought to be sectarian.