Sligo musician Matt Kivlehan unlawfully killed, inquest rules

A well-known Sligo musician died as a result of two stab wounds to the neck sustained in an incident in his home, an inquest heard on Monday.

The jury at Sligo Coroner’s Court returned a verdict of unlawful killing in the case of Martin (Matt) Kivlehan (59), who was also a carpenter.

Det Insp Ray Mulderrig told the jury that Mr Kivlehan’s brother, Christopher, discovered his body on the floor of his home at New Apartments, Holborn Street, Sligo just after 1.20pm on August 3rd, 2015.

A postmortem found evidence of two stab wounds to the neck , one to the right side and one on the left. One of the wounds was 7.8cm deep and the other was 9cm deep.

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Coroner Eamon MacGowan heard that when the body was found a knife was “resting on the right collarbone area” . The deceased’s hand was over the knife but it “was not actually in his hand”.

Criminal case

Det Insp Mullderrig said two people had been charged in connection with the case and it is listed for trial in the Central Criminal court in November.

The jury heard that no defensive type injuries were detected during the post mortem.

Mr Kivelhan would have died rapidly becasue of “torrential haemorrhaging”, the jury was told.

Mr MacGowan said it was not up to the coroner’s court to apportion blame but he directed that no third party associated with the case be named.

He said he hoped the ruling would bring some satisfaction to the Kivlehan family given society had found that Martin was unlawfully killed.

“We await further developments”, he added.

Mr Kivlehan died shortly before the 2015 All-Ireland Fleadh took place in Sligo. Local musicians played a tribute to him at the event.