Police investigating the murder of Ballymena teenager Michael McIlveen say they have found a baseball bat, clothing and footwear during searches.
Officers also said they were investigating CCTV evidence which they hope will help them identify those involved in the murder of the Catholic youth in the early hours of last Sunday in a car park in the Co Antrim town.
This was revealed at Larne Magistrates' Court yesterday during an application to have two further suspects detained in custody for a further 36 hours for questioning.
The two cannot be named on account of their ages. Five people appeared in court on Thursday on counts of murder.
Meanwhile a row has erupted over alleged remarks by a local DUP councillor, who said that Catholics, such as the murdered teenager, would not get into heaven unless they were saved.
Councillor Roy Gillespie was quoted in yesterday's Daily Ireland newspaper as saying: "I won't be going to the funeral. Stepping foot inside in a Catholic church is against my religious beliefs."
Describing the Pope as the "anti-Christ", he was also reported as saying: "As a Catholic he [ Michael McIlveen] won't get into heaven unless he has been saved. If he did not repent before he died and asked the Lord into his heart, he will not get into heaven. Catholics are not accepted into heaven."
Mr Gillespie later claimed in a radio interview that he had been misquoted, adding that he made no remarks about the afterlife specific to Michael McIlveen. Daily Ireland says it stands by its story.
The remarks were heavily criticised by Ulster Unionist councillor James Currie, Sinn Féin's Philip McGuigan and Declan O'Loan of the SDLP.
Mr Gillespie declined to speak to The Irish Times when contacted yesterday. The councillor has previously spoken against a proposal to grant-aid GAA clubs to buy hurleys, is a critic of Irish-medium schooling and dislikes the Harry Potter books.
Referring to the popularity of JK Rowling's character as a cult, he has said: "These cults with their stories about witches are damaging, especially to young people, who would be better off saying their prayers."
Following the riot in O'Connell Street last February as Protestant victims planned to march to Leinster House, Mr Gillespie said the violence was an indication of what was to come.
"Be warned. This is what lies ahead for those who are for a united Ireland," he told the council. The McIlveen family has publicly invited DUP leader Ian Paisley to the funeral next week.