RUC hunt killer gang
Detectives probing the murder of a man found battered to death in Belfast were today hunting a group who led him into the alleyway where he was brutally killed.
The body of Kenneth Oslon, 43, was discovered with severe head injuries in an entry behind houses on Eglantine Avenue in the south of the city.
Three people were tonight being questioned in connection with the gruesome find, which came up to 24 hours after Mr Oslon was killed.
But RUC Detective Chief Inspector Alan Mains, who is heading the investigation, said police desperately needed to speak to others who were with him before he died on Friday night.
‘‘We are looking for three to four individuals who led him into the entry,’’ he said.
It is thought the dead man, who lived in nearby Lower Windsor Avenue, was murdered in the alleyway where his body was found - a favoured spot for groups gathering to drink.
A sectarian motive has been ruled out by detectives examining the possibility that a drunken brawl could have led to Mr Oslon’s murder.
The discovery in Belfast’s university district was not made until late on Saturday night.
After the body was found residents told detectives of hearing an argument in the entry the previous night.
A man living nearby also recalled seeing a body lying in the entry early on Saturday morning but didn’t report it as he thought it was a ‘‘drunk who was asleep’’.
Police were today still waiting for the results of a post-mortem examination to establish the cause of death.
But as the police investigation continued, Mr Mains described it as a terrible death.
‘‘As any murder, it’s horrendous - someone taken to their death in this way. It was extremely violent.’’
