Gardaí have not ruled out a drug-related link to the stabbing murder of father-of-six Willie Moorehouse (36) in Bray, Co Wicklow.
The investigation into the murder intensified on Tuesday as seven properties, at a halting site, were searched under warrant. Four arrests were made during that operation, bringing to six the number of men detained as part of the murder inquiry to date.
Gardaí also seized a number of knives in the area close to the murder scene. They are hopeful forensic testing will link the weapons to some of the suspects in the case.
The dead man lived on the Half Moon Halting Site at Windgates, about 5km south of Bray, and it is understood his partner is pregnant.
Detectives believe Mr Moorehouse had gone to the Ballywaltrim area of Bray on Sunday evening for a pre-organised fight when he was set upon by men with weapons and stabbed to death.
Gardaí now suspect that pre-arranged fight, behind a community centre in the area, was organised in a bid to settle a drug-related dispute. Instead of fighting one opponent, however, Mr Moorehouse was chased by a group of men armed with knives and fatally stabbed.
He ran across a playground in a bid to get away from his attackers but was eventually caught and fatally assaulted. Gardaí suspect the attackers have arrived into the area in vehicles, lay in wait and then escaped the scene in the cars after the murder.
Though several people on the scene went to the aid of the injured man and alerted the emergency services, he had been stabbed multiple times and was unresponsive.
Paramedics worked on Mr Moorehouse in a bid to save his life but those efforts were not successful and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two men, aged in their 20s and 40s, were arrested on Monday night in the Bray area. The bigger operation on Tuesday resulted in the detention of a further four suspects; a juvenile, two men in their 20s and one in his 30s.
All six arrested suspects were still being held in Garda custody on Tuesday afternoon. They can all be questioned for up to 24 hours without charge.
Gardaí were alerted to the fatal attack on Boghall Road shortly after 6pm on Sunday. Though gardaí and paramedics rushed to the scene, Mr Moorehouse’s injuries were very severe.
Gardaí believe a number of other people were in the area of the playground when the fatal altercation arose and are hopeful they may be able to aid the investigation. Detectives were trying to piece together the dead man’s last movements in a bid to build a picture of how the fatal attack occurred.
As well as investigating the murder, gardaí are also investigating Sunday night’s incident as a major public order disturbance while charges related to possession of offensive weapons were also expected to be pursued.
A postmortem examination on the remains of Mr Moorehouse was being conducted on Tuesday by the State Pathologist, Dr Sally Anne Collis at the morgue in Whitehall, Dublin.
An examination of the crime scene, which was an extensive area, has been completed by the Garda Technical Bureau and the cordon has been lifted. The murder inquiry is being carried out by gardaí in Bray with the aid of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, the force’s serious crimes squad.
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