Fatal stabbing believed self-inflicted

GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the fatal stabbing of a man at a house in Tullamore, Co Offaly believe he had attacked another man with a knife before taking his own life using the same weapon.

Garda sources said the incident, which took place yesterday morning, appeared to have its origins in a domestic dispute.

It is understood the dead man, a 30-year-old originally from Poland, had been living at the house on Kilbride Street with his wife and three-year-old son for some time. He is believed to have become estranged from his wife recently, and when she called to the house just before 7.30am with another Polish man an altercation took place.

The man who died attacked the other man with a knife, wounded him in the face and inflicted wounds to the man’s hands and arms as he tried to defend himself, gardaí believe.

The altercation took place outside the house before the attacker ran back into the property. Gardaí said while it is not exactly clear what took place next, they believe the man may have turned the knife on himself in the property.

Gardaí were alerted to the incident by phone shortly after it occurred, and when local gardaí and paramedics arrived on the scene they found one man with a stab wound to the upper body inside the house and the second man with a number of wounds that were not life-threatening.

The man with the stomach wound was taken by ambulance to the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore, where efforts to save him were unsuccessful. The second man was treated and has since been discharged from hospital.

The investigating team has spoken to him and has also interviewed the dead man’s wife. The couple’s child was at the property when the incident occurred.

The property was sealed off yesterday and underwent a forensic examination by members of the Garda Technical Bureau.

Insp Kieran Keyes of Tullamore Garda station said the two injured parties may have been known to each other. He said that while the identity of the dead man, who was well known locally, had been established, his name was not being released until all relatives had been informed.

He appealed for anyone who was in the area of Kilbride Street from 6.30am to 7.30am yesterday and who may have seen or heard the incident to contact gardaí in Tullamore.

Former Tullamore Town Council election candidate Tomasz Askuntowicz said the local Polish community was shocked by the incident.

Although he did not know the deceased man personally, Mr Askuntowicz said “everyone is shocked . . . it will have an impact on the Polish community”.

Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis was last night carrying out a postmortem on the dead man’s remains, the results of which gardaí believe are likely to confirm no third party involvement in his death.