MORE THAN 1,600 hours of CCTV footage are to be viewed as part of the investigation into a double murder in Limerick.
Chief Supt Dave Sheahan said gardaí have spoken to almost 600 people as part of their investigation into the murders of Des Kelly (23) and Breda Waters (28) who were found shot dead at a house in the O’Malley Park area of the city last weekend.
The funerals of both victims, who are each survived by three young children, will take place today. Gardaí believe Mr Kelly was targeted because of an outstanding heroin debt and that Ms Waters was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Postmortem results confirmed that both victims were shot once in the head with a shot gun.
Large crowds gathered at Crosses funeral home in Limerick city last night where both removals took place. Ms Waters will be buried today after 11am Mass at St Mary’s Church while Mr Kelly’s funeral Mass will take place at the Holy Family Church in Southill at 1pm.
A ninth person was arrested yesterday in connection with the double murder inquiry. The 49-year-old man remained in Garda custody last night along with a 36-year-old woman who was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of withholding information about the killings.
A man in his 20s arrested on Monday was released without charge yesterday morning.
Six other people arrested at the same house in Castletroy last Monday appeared before Limerick District Court yesterday where gardaí were granted a further 72 hours to question them. Three men and three women appeared before Judge Tom O’Donnell.
In his application to the court, Chief Supt Sheahan said footage from more than 30 camera systems had been secured but footage from 15 more systems had yet to be obtained. He added that the total amount of footage to be viewed was 1,600 hours.
The court heard that the CCTV footage covered a five square mile radius on the south side of the city.
Evidence was given that detailed searches were being carried out on five houses but the murder weapon had yet to be located.
Chief Supt Sheahan also said some clothing believed to have been worn by one of the killers had been recovered and sent for forensic analysis.
Five vehicles and a scooter had been impounded. House-to-house inquiries had been carried out at 393 homes, he added, and 593 people had been interviewed.
He said the investigation was being conducted “diligently and expeditiously” and it was necessary to detain all six people for an additional 72 hours and that he was still waiting on the results of scientific and technical tests which were ongoing.
Judge O’Donnell said he was satisfied the investigation was being carried out in an expeditious manner and he granted the three day extension in respect of all six people in custody.