Gardaí in west Cork are treating the death of man whose body was found in a slurry pit as murder after preliminary post mortem results showed he died of head injuries inflicted by a blunt instrument.
The man's body was discovered on a farm in Shanlaragh, near Dunmanway yesterday following a Garda tip-off. The threat of dangerous gases from the waste pit held up Garda efforts to remove the remains.
Gardaí said tonight they are so far unable to say when the man died but they believe it may have been in the past two weeks.
There is speculation locally that the man may have been a British national who had been living at a New Age traveller settlement at nearby Coole Mountain.
Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster carried out a preliminary post mortem examination on the remains at Cork University Hospital this evening.
Investigating officers also sealed off a public telephone kiosk in Dungarvan, Co Waterford, about 120 kilometres away from Shanlaragh, in connection with the inquiry.
The kiosk and the immediate area surrounding it was examined this afternoon by Garda technical experts who took fingerprints.
The Garda Technical Bureau, Garda Water Unit, Civil Defence and local officers have all been involved in the ongoing investigation.