MRS Joan O'Reilly, the woman who helped calm Gerrit lsenborger after the shootings, last night said she believed his mother, Pauline, is still alive.
In the Slieve Russell Hotel, where she and her husband have been moved while gardai use their home to conduct negotiations, Mrs O'Reilly spoke of Mr Isenborger's affection for his mother.
"I offered on many occasions to go down and help, get a nurse or provide back up for her illness, but he always refused. He is very good to his mother and I don't think he will let her die," she said.
But when she telephoned Mr Isenborger after the shooting, he told her his mother was going to die and he would stay with her until she did.
"He indicated that he had either given her pills or she had taken an overdose of pills and he was going to stay with her until she died," said Mrs O'Reilly.
Mrs O'Reilly, who said she and her husband had had most contact with Mr Isenborger, gave a graphic description of the shooting and the aftermath on Wednesday.
She said that immediately after she heard the shots, a number of men and gardai came into her house. Two of the men were bleeding, one from the face and the other from the hand and face.
"I called Gerrit and talked him down, if you like. I told him he was not helping his own case and I asked about his mother. He was very excited and then he told me about the pills," said the mother of five grown up children.
She said she rang Mr Isenborger again when the ambulance arrived to collect Mr Tommy Owens who had not made, it back to her house.
"I rang and asked him to allow the ambulance up and he promised he would but it took me a good time to get that out of him," she said.
Eventually, he said to her: "I give you my honour, Joan" and the ambulance took the injured man away.
Mrs O'Reilly said the next telephone call came to her from Mr Isenborger who was threatening the media. He told her they had 20 seconds to get off a nearby hill where he could see them.
"He said the media had done nothing for him and he was very upset about them being there," she said.
She again calmed him down and the gardai got the media to move back out of sight.
She said that shortly after that the gardai asked her and her husband, Sonny, to move into the Slieve Russell Hotel so they could use the house as a base.
The O'Reillys spoke with great affection about Gerrit Isenborger, who had moved into the derelict cottage about two years ago.
"He was a good but different neighbour. He is a kind of gentle giant," said Mr O'Reilly, who used to meet him regularly.
Mr O'Reilly said he knew that Mr Isenborger had legally held weapons because he had come to him to sign forms for permission to renew his firearms certificate.
He said he and his wife had often heard their German neighbour shooting at targets at the rear of the house.
They had contact with him be fore Christmas when he thought he was going to be evicted. He asked them to ask the local clergy to help. They had passed on the request.
Both of them said that what had happened was out of character and, while they knew he was obsessed about the eviction, they never suspected anything like this would happen.
There is considerable sympathy for Mr Isenborger and his mother in the area.
Two of the three men shot, Mr Paul Comiskey (40), of the Rock, Lough Gowna, and Mr Chris Raythorn, from Dublin, were being treated in hospital yesterday for what appeared to be shotgun wounds to the head, legs and arms. The wounds are not believed to be serious.