GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the murder of a 25-year-old man whose body was found in Co Kerry last Thursday believe he was killed in his flat in Cork city and that up to three people may have been involved in the killing and disposal of his body.
Officers investigating the murder of John McManus, a native of Fermoy in north Cork, believe that he was most likely killed sometime late on October 30th in his flat at Verdon Place on Wellington Road on Cork's northside.
Officers believe Mr McManus's body may have been left in the flat for up to two days before those who killed him returned and collected the body of the young man which was found with severe head and other injuries in a field near Ballyduff in north Kerry.
Officers believe Mr McManus was killed in the flat after being struck repeatedly with some implement because of the large quantity of blood found there and the great efforts made by whoever attacked him to clean up the flat to cover up the crime.
According to a Garda source, up to three people may have been involved in the killing.
Gardaí suspect that all three may also have been involved in the plan to dispose of the body by burying the remains in the undergrowth in a field at Ferrybridge near Ballyduff.
However, gardaí foiled the plan to bury Mr McManus's remains when Garda Dan O'Connor from Ballybunion spotted a man acting suspiciously in the area and stopped and impounded a car which he was driving and found traces of blood in the boot.
Gardaí are currently tracing the ownership of the car while they are also awaiting the results of forensic tests on the vehicle.
Mr McManus's mobile phone was not recovered but The Irish Timeshas also learned that gardaí have been in contact with mobile phone service providers to try and establish who contacted his mobile phone in the days prior to his disappearance.
He was last seen in the Mayfield area of Cork city on October 30th and gardaí were notified after his family became concerned when he failed to contact them and they could find no evidence that he had accessed his bank accounts for a number of days.
