Gardaí investigating the murder of Josephine ‘Josie’ Ray (89) in Co Tipperary last weekend have arrested a man and a woman.
Detectives arrested a man and a woman in their 50s on suspicion of murdering the mother-of-five whose body was found at her home at St Joseph’s Park in Nenagh on Sunday.
The pair, whom it is understood were known to the dead woman, were brought to separate Garda stations in Co Tipperary for questioning.
They are both detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act which allows gardaí to hold suspects for up to 24 hours before they must be charged or released.
My driving instructor texted me: ‘Things aren’t working out. I’ll transfer you back your money’
Spain proposes 100% tax on homes bought by non-EU residents
Aoife was diagnosed with HIV in Australia in 2020: ‘He was unknowingly positive. We had no idea’
Caroline Darian, daughter of Gisèle Pelicot: ‘It’s difficult to be the daughter of a sexual criminal and the daughter of an icon like my mum’
A grandmother and great grandmother, Ms Ray was found unresponsive at her house by a family member at about midday on Sunday and they immediately contacted the emergency services.
Ms Ray was pronounced dead at the scene and gardaí immediately cordoned off the scene and requested the services of the State Pathologist’s Office.
A postmortem on Ms Ray’s body by Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Yvonne McCartney, on Monday confirmed she had died from asphyxiation and gardaí opened a murder inquiry.
Officers began door to door inquiries in the St Joseph’s Park area while they also began canvassing homes and businesses for CCTV footage to see if they could identify any possible culprits.
Garda technical experts were able to establish that there was no sign of forced entry at Ms Ray’s two-storey terraced house leading to the belief that she may have known her killers and admitted them.
The arrests come just hours after Ms Ray was buried at Killodiernan Cemetery following her funeral mass at St Mary of the Rosary Church in Nenagh.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
