Double murder hunt after blaze woman dies

A double murder investigation was underway today after the death of a young woman who was doused with petrol and set on fire during a horrific attack.

A double murder investigation was underway today after the death of a young woman who was doused with petrol and set on fire during a horrific attack.

Lisa McClatchey, 21, died in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast 10 days after she and her boyfriend were set on fire in their south Armagh home.

The boyfriend, Thomas O’Hare, 33, died last Friday.

The couple were beaten and they and their house were doused with petrol and set on fire by a gang of self-styled vigilantes on November 6.

Detectives hunting the gang, which burst into the house on the Foley Road outside Keady, appealed today for anyone who saw anything suspicious in the area on November 6 between 8.30pm and 9.30pm to contact them.

Police are anxious to interview four brothers who are being treated for serious burns in a Dublin hospital.

The men, from south Armagh, turned up at the hospital an hour after the attack .

It was revealed in court in Belfast yesterday that one of the brothers had borrowed a car on November 6, which was found after the arson attack burned out on a road nearby.

The information was made public during a bail application in the High Court by a man charged with withholding information and perverting the course of justice in relation to the murders.

A lawyer for David Harold Graham, a second-hand car dealer from Omagh, Co Tyrone, said he knew one of the brothers and had lent him the vehicle for a few hours on the night of November 6.

The court also heard Mr O’Hare had been beaten with hammers and Ms McClatchey was assaulted before being set on fire.

She managed to escape the building and ran to a neighbour’s house with her clothes and body on fire. Her partner also managed to get out of the house and was found lying in the garden with his clothes and skin on fire.

Both, said barrister David Reid, had suffered “horrific burn injuries”.

He said it was believed a number of the intruders also suffered burn injuries and detectives had been in contact with gardaí about the four men in the Dublin hospital.

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