Gardaí to probe if man in slurry tank was murdered
Tests carried out tonight on a body removed from a slurry tank on a remote farm in west Co Cork are expected to determine if the person was murdered.
The threat of dangerous gases from the waste pit in Shanlaragh, near Dunmanway, held up Garda efforts to remove the remains after the discovery yesterday morning.
There is speculation locally that the body may be that of a man who had been living at a New Age traveller settlement at nearby Coole Mountain.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster is to carry out a post mortem examination on the remains at Cork University Hospital this evening.
Investigating officers also sealed off a public telephone kiosk in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, about 120 kilometres away from Shanlaragh, in connection with the inquiry.
The kiosk and the immediate area surrounding it was examined this afternoon by Garda technical experts who took fingerprints.
The Garda Technical Bureau, Garda Water Unit, Civil Defence and local officers have all been involved in the ongoing investigation.
Superintendent Pat Maher, of Clonakilty Garda Station, who is heading up the probe, confirmed preliminary results from the post mortem examination should determine the progress of the inquiry.
“A lot will depend on the results of that as to how my investigation will go,” he said.
