Gardai in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, have begun a murder investigation into the death of a local man in the town yesterday morning.
The body of Mr Francis Daniels (41) was discovered in a lane near his home off Oliver Plunkett Terrace shortly after 7 a.m. yesterday. A post-mortem showed Mr Daniels died from extensive head injuries.
Mr Daniels's body was discovered by a neighbour walking his dog. It was lying across the laneway named locally as Kerry Drive. Gardai yesterday sealed off the area to seek an implement which may have been used.
According to Supt Dick Burke, of Clonmel Garda station, a motive for the murder has not been established. House-to-house inquiries are being conducted, and gardai have appealed to anyone who may have seen Mr Daniels in the hours before his death to come forward.
Mr Daniels, who was mildly mentally handicapped, lived with his elderly mother. He was well known and liked by his neighbours, who described him as being an inoffensive and quiet man who had a peculiar habit of picking leaves from hedges as he wandered around the town, often in the early hours of the morning.
"If it was murder, he certainly couldn't have defended himself," said a shocked resident. He said Mr Daniels always wore a blue blazer. He knew all the local children.
The killing is the second in the south Tipperary town in the recent past. A short distance up the lane from where Mr Daniels's body was found, a local teenager, David Nugent, died on July 7th last year.