Detectives investigating the murder of the Dublin student, Ms Raonaid Murray, have received a description of a young man who appeared to be pestering or pursuing a girl similar in appearance on the night she was murdered.
The description is contained in a statement given to gardai earlier this week. Although it comes more than three weeks after the murder it is understood the description bears resemblances to one young man who was known to Ms Murray.
Yesterday, the officer in charge of the investigation described as "very significant" the statement by a Dun Laoghaire woman who came forward earlier this week.
Det Supt Martin Donnellan said the woman had given a description of a young man whom she had seen in the company of a blonde girl. The man appeared to be pestering the girl. "He was leaning into her and she appeared to be trying to ignore him." The woman described this incident as happening at the top of Corrig Avenue near the junction with Corrig Road. This is on the route that Ms Murray would have taken home from the centre of Dun Laoghaire.
The man who seemed to have been following Ms Murray was described as about 5 ft 10 ins tall, about 25 years of age and wearing light-coloured "combat" trousers and a light-coloured top. He had sandy-coloured hair, cut in a style similar to that worn by the singer Liam Gallagher from the band Oasis.
The witness said she saw the two at the top of Corrig Avenue at about seven minutes to midnight.
Ms Murray (17) is believed to have walked towards her home and may have been pursued by her killer. It is believed she was stopped in the dark laneway between Silchester Road and Silchester Park where she lived. A family living in Silchester Road heard a commotion and a young woman shouting loudly at 12.10 a.m. It is believed it was at this point she was stabbed in the laneway. She struggled on for almost 100 yards before collapsing and dying not far from her home.
There have been a number of witness statements describing suspicious activity in the area, all of which have been followed up.
Detectives believe the statement from the Dun Laoghaire woman is of major importance despite the fact that she took three weeks to come forward.
According to sources close to the investigation, it confirms a number of known facts. It places Ms Murray in a location which tallies closely with her next known movements.
It is also understood to contain a description of Ms Murray which fits with other known information which has not been previously publicised.
The witness, it is understood, also gave gardai a good description of the man, although the artist's impression based on her description is being withheld for the time being.
Det Supt Donnellan said the witness had not come forward earlier because she had been put off by the fact that the Garda had issued a "photofit" image of a man to whom they had wanted to talk. This was the image of a man who had acted suspiciously on the night of the murder while taking a taxi from Dun Laoghaire to Blackrock. Det Supt Donnellan said while this man had yet to be identified there was nothing to suggest he was anywhere near the area of the murder.