Murder-suicide suspected in crash which killed father and son

Gardaí suspect murder-suicide in the deaths of a man and his three-year-old son in a car crash in Co Limerick yesterday, shortly after the child's mother was injured in a domestic dispute.

Toddler Alex Velocci and his father Marco Velocci (28) died instantly after their black Audi was involved in a head-on collision with an articulated lorry between Pallasgreen and Oola on the main Limerick to Tipperary road at about 8.30am.

Several witnesses saw Velocci’s car veer across the road into the path of the lorry which had been travelling in the other direction, according to a Garda source.

Velocci had called to a bungalow in nearby Oola where his ex-partner Jodie Power lived with their son. At about 8am an altercation occurred and Ms Power, who is in her 20s, suffered a broken arm and a number of stab wounds.

She was later treated at University Hospital Limerick but her injuries are not life threatening.

It is understood the child was at home with his mother when his father arrived. Velocci left the house with their son. Minutes later a caller phoned gardaí from Ms Power’s home, telling them that she had been stabbed and her son had been taken from the house by Velocci. Shortly after 8.30am gardaí responded to the fatal crash just a few kilometres from Ms Power’s home in which Velocci and his son died instantly.

One of the first people at the scene was a motorcyclist who was so traumatised that gardaí were still waiting to interview him yesterday evening.

Break-up

The driver of the lorry, which ended up in a nearby field, was not injured but was treated for shock.

A local Garda source confirmed that investigating officers were treating the incident as a suspected murder-suicide.

“Officially we are looking at a stabbing incident at a house and a fatal road traffic collision but that’s the way it looks alright,” the source said.

Ms Power had been involved in a long-term relationship with Velocci but the couple had split up two years ago.

Velocci, whose father is Italian, was born in Ireland and his family has been living here for many years. He worked as a tradesman and had been living in Lattin in south Tipperary after the break-up of his relationship with Ms Power.

Velocci’s former sports coach, John Ryan, said Ms Power and Velocci were “childhood sweethearts”.

The bodies of the father and son were removed to University Hospital Limerick where post mortem examinations are due to take place today.