Gardaí believe a man killed at a house in south Co Wicklow was stabbed to death by a person he knew at a social gathering in the property.
Detectives working on the case are trying to establish if a person who was in the house in Ballyconnell, near Shillelagh was responsible for the fatal injuries sustained by Juris Viktorovs on Thursday.
The 36-year-old victim, who was originally from Lithuania, is understood to have lived at various addresses in Co Wicklow and Co Carlow since emigrating to Ireland.
In recent months, a mix of Irish and Eastern European people had often met at the end of terrace local authority house to socialise. While the dead man and suspected killer were known to each other, they were not related.
Gardaí believe a number of people were in the house when the man was stabbed after a dispute broke out at about 8pm. While the alarm was quickly raised and gardaí and paramedics went to the scene, the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gardaí arrested a woman in her 20s and a man in his 30s shortly after arriving on the scene on Thursday evening. The two arrested people have been detained in separate Garda stations in Bray and Baltinglass for questioning, under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. That allows for them to be questioned for up to 24 hours without charge.
The house was sealed off and secured by gardaí overnight and the victim’s remains were left in-situ overnight.
A number of items, including knives, were taken from the house to be examined as part of the Garda investigation.
A pathologist carried out a preliminary examination of the man’s remains at the scene before they were taken from the house for a full postmortem examination at Naas General Hospital, Co Kildare.
While the investigation is at a very early stage, gardaí believe they have made rapid progress in the case and have begun to piece together the events that resulted in the fatal stabbing.
Gardaí are not looking for anyone else in relation to the killing but they have issued an appeal for any witnesses who may have noticed unusual activity in Ballyconnell village on Thursday evening, or who may have camera or dash cam footage of the area between 7pm and 8.15pm, to contact gardaí.
Anyone with information was asked to contact Baltinglass Garda station on 059 648 2610 or the Garda confidential line on 1800 666 111.
