Gardaí investigating the murder of an 80-year-old man in Dublin city centre believe the victim, pensioner Vincent Plunkett, may have brought a man back to his home at Robinson's Court, off Cork Street in the south inner city, late on Sunday and that this man may have killed him.
"There was no sign of forced entry at all in the flat so we'd be fairly confident that the victim knew his killer and let him into the property," said one source.
It has also emerged that the victim, whose throat was slit and who was stabbed in a very violent and bloody assault, was at the centre of a high-profile court case eight years ago.
He was accused of stalking a young couple from his native Athlone, Co Westmeath, the man of which took his own life as a result. However, there is no connection between that incident and Mr Plunkett's murder. He moved to Dublin from Athlone not long after the 1998 episode.
Supt Thady Muldoon of Kevin Street Garda station said the last reported sighting of the victim was at around 9pm on Sunday close to his home.
He said when a home help called to Mr Plunkett's Dublin City Council-run "old folks flat" at midday on Monday, they found the dead man's remains.
"We're looking for anyone who may have seen the victim on the Cork Street or Robinson's Court areas, or indeed anywhere else, late Sunday or early on Monday to contact us," Supt Muldoon said.
He added that Mr Plunkett had been living in Robinson's Court for about four years. Gardaí were anxious to speak to anybody who knew him from his time in the area.
The scene of the murder was sealed off immediately on the discovery of the body. Members of the Garda Technical Bureau who examined the scene on Monday continued their work throughout yesterday. Mr Plunkett was found on the floor beside his bed in his underpants.
Gardaí also conducted door-to-door inquiries in an effort to piece together the dead man's final movements. Detectives are also anxious to gather as much information as possible about Mr Plunkett's routine and his social life.
In March 1998, Mr Plunkett was given a three-month suspended sentence and fined £300 when he was convicted of common assault and of breach of the peace. Athlone District Court was told that Mr Plunkett had stalked Brian and Michelle Mullen who were from the Clonbrusk Estate, Athlone.
The couple had a four-year-old son at the time.
Mr Plunkett fell out with the Mullens, whom he claimed owed him £4,000. The men were friends before the falling out. Mr Plunkett, a retired traffic warden, helped Mr Mullen deliver beer throughout the midlands.
When the stalking case went to court, the Mullens alleged Mr Plunkett had followed them to the Aran Islands on a three-day break to celebrate their wedding anniversary in June of 1997.
They also claimed he was responsible for shoving dog faeces through their front door and delivering some 30 abusive letters to their home.
Mr Mullen (then 24) told the court Mr Plunkett spread rumours that he, Mr Mullen, was gay, a Garda informer and a drug dealer. "We can't even go out at night but people jeer us and taunt us," Mr Mullen said in court.
Mr Mullen hanged himself at his home in June 1998, just three months after the Athlone Court Case, details of which attracted coverage in the national media.
After news of the suicide emerged, Mr Plunkett, whose family ran an Athlone pub, spoke to the media insisting he and Mr Mullen had remained good friends despite the outcome of the court case. "We were very good friends and there was no animosity between Brian and myself," he said.
