Gardaí investigating the murder of a man at his home in Co Laois 10 days ago arrested a woman yesterday. She was released last night after questioning and a file is to be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
A postmortem found that Pat Burke (55), Ballybrittas, died of injuries to the head inflicted with a blunt instrument.
Gardaí believe a hammer found at the scene was the weapon used to kill him.
Mr Burke was in bed in a downstairs bedroom of the family home when he was attacked.
His remains were found in the bed on the night of Sunday, August 19th.
Gardaí believe he had been dead for some time, possibly up to 24 hours, before his remains were discovered.
A woman was found in a collapsed state in the house by one of Mr Burke's sons who found his body when he returned to the house at 10.40pm. The woman had knife wounds to both wrists.
Gardaí removed a knife from the scene and a note which they believe was written after Mr Burke was beaten to death.
A 54-year-old woman was arrested yesterday morning and was questioned at Portlaoise Garda station under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.
Gardaí have described as "tragic" the circumstances of the Burke family and the killing of Mr Burke.
Following the incident, the murder scene was sealed off for two days while gardaí carried out a full examination of the house. The hammer, knife and note have also undergone Garda technical and forensic examinations.
