Five men arrested over death of Cork man

Gardaí investigating the suspicious death of a 36-year-old man in Co Cork earlier this year have arrested a further three men for questioning about the fatal assault.

Detectives believe that the death of Peter Murphy at his rented home at Shanavoher in Bweeng some 10kms from Mallow in February may have been drugs related.

On Wednesday gardaí arrested one man in Buttevant and two in Doneraile, all in their 20s and 30s, to bring to five the number of people arrested for questioning about Mr Murphy’s death.

All five men have been arrested under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act which allows gardaí detain suspects involved in organised crime for up to seven days.

One of the men arrested this morning has been brought to Fermoy Garda station and two have been taken to Cobh Garda Station for questioning about the killing.

The two men in their 20s, arrested early Monday morning at their homes in Doneraile and Buttevant are being questioned in Mallow Garda Station about the death of Mr Murphy.

A native of Shinnick Place in Castletownroche, Mr Murphy had been living for a period at the rented house in Shanavoher in Bweeng where he had a machine repair business.

The arrests are the first made by gardaí investigating the death of Mr Murphy whom detectives believe was beaten to death at his rented home in Bweeng on February 5th or 6th.

Gardaí believe Mr Murphy may have been attacked in one room and either crawled or was dragged by his assailants into the sitting room, where he was found on Saturday 7th February

The postmortem carried out by assistant state pathologist Dr Margot Bolster confirmed Mr Murphy was dead for at least 12 hours when his body was found at 1.30pm on February 7th.

Officers under Supt Pat McCarthy of Mallow Garda Station began an extensive investigation including examining CCTV from houses and businesses in the isolated country area.