Gardaí issue appeal over Donegal couple’s car

Gardaí have issued an appeal to anyone who may have spotted a car belonging to Co Donegal couple Jimmy and Kathleen Cuddihy to come forward.

Postmortems were carried out this morning on the bodies of the couple in their 70s, who were found dead at their family home in Carndonagh yesterday.

They were found by their son James and a local builder, who had been carrying out work at the property.

Garda sources believe the retired couple were attacked by one man armed with an axe and said the injuries to both victims were very extensive.

Gardaí are keen to discover where their car was between 4pm on Wednesday afternoon and 9am yesterday morning. The car is a silver Skoda Octavia, registration number 10 DL 274, was found at a lake outside Carndonagh yesterday morning.

A 42-year-old man arrested yesterday is still being questioned in relation to the incident.

It is understood the man being quizzed about the couple’s death was in the car.

Supt Eugene McGovern made the appeal for anyone who may have witnessed the family car to come forward. He said he believes the movements of the vehicle is very important to their investigation.

Gardaí have until around 6pm to question, charge or release the man.

It emerged last night that he had been medically assessed recently after concerns were expressed about his mental health.

The motive for the attack was not clear but there was no sign of forced entry at the house and burglary has been ruled out. An axe recovered by gardaí is believed to be the murder weapon.

Mr Cuddihy was a retired maths teacher and, while from Kilkenny, had settled in Donegal with his wife, a retired nurse, who was from the Carndonagh area.

The couple had four grown-up children, two sons and two daughters – James, Julian, Delia and Maureen.

Local resident

The suspect was detained under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act at Meendoran near Clonmany, an area of Donegal within a few minutes’ drive of the crime scene.

He was taken to nearby Buncrana Garda station for questioning.

Garda sources said the man was the only suspect in the case and charges were anticipated.