Hundreds of people are expected to attend the removal this evening of the remains of Mrs Joan Casey, the mother of five who was murdered at her home in Tallaght, Dublin, at the weekend.
The removal will take place at St Dominic's Church, where she used to attend Mass daily with parishioners who have described her as "a living saint".
The parish priest, Father Larry Collins, said the family had requested a private burial tomorrow after noon Mass. "It has been an awful, painful time for them," he added.
Mrs Casey (64) was shot dead on Saturday morning at her home at Avonbeg Park, where she lived with her husband, Dominic, and children.
Detectives, who believe Mrs Casey was not the intended victim of the attack, are hopeful the killers can be identified through forensic evidence gathered at the scene.
Two pairs of gloves which were dumped by the killers near the house have been recovered and further evidence has been gathered by technical and forensic experts, who remained at the scene for a third day yesterday.
Det Insp Séamus Kane, who is leading the investigation, confirmed a number of men had been seen "casually" walking from the murder scene shortly after 6.20am, one of them carrying a firearm.
Mrs Casey had minutes earlier been shot dead through the door of her bedroom after the men had broken into her home. The woman's husband and brother were in the house at the time but neither was injured.
Det Insp Kane said yesterday that neither Mrs Casey nor any member of her family was known to the Garda.
"Joan Casey was a private woman, a quiet woman and certainly we wouldn't describe in any manner of means from a criminal family."
"The family is a quiet family, living in the Avonbeg area for a number of years, well respected and well thought of," he told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
"These people weren't known to the gardaí. They are an entirely innocent family. We are perplexed. We are investigating all aspects to discover a motive for the attack, if there can be a motive for the attack."
Detectives believe the killing was most likely the result of a dispute in which a person known to Mrs Casey had become involved. However, gardaí officially say no single line of inquiry is being pursued.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room at Tallaght Garda station incident room at (01) 666 6056.
