Murder inquiry begins into death of man (52) in Dublin

Gardaí have launched a murder inquiry into the death of a man who was found with severe leg wounds at his Dublin city centre flat on Monday.

Isaac Horgan was pronounced dead in hospital on Monday afternoon. A postmortem on the 52-year-old’s remains is due to be carried out later on Tuesday and is expected to confirm he died from an apparent stab wound to his leg.

Mr Horgan was found on his couch in his Dublin city centre flat at 11am on Monday morning having suffered massive blood loss.

He was treated at the scene before being brought to St James’s Hospital where he died a short time later. Initial indications suggest Mr Horgan bled to death as a result of a severed artery. Gardaí do not believe the wound was self-inflicted.

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Gardaí arrested two people in connection with the death on Tuesday morning. A man, aged in his 40s, and a woman, aged in her 30s, are being detained for questioning at Pearse Street Garda station.

They are being detained under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, allowing them to be held for up to 24 hours.

It is understood the door to Mr Horgan’s flat had been damaged on a previous occasion but there were no signs of recent forced entry. Garda scenes of crime examiners have removed the door for forensic analysis.

Mr Horgan lived alone in the ground-floor flat in Markievicz House and had been seen alive by neighbours earlier on Monday morning.

Chaotic lifestyle

The scene in the Dublin 2 apartment complex continues to be preserved and examinations are ongoing by the Garda Technical Bureau and Divisional Scenes of Crime personnel.

The investigation is being led by gardaí from Pearse Street station where an incident room has been established.

One possibility being examined by gardaí is that Mr Horgan killed during a robbery. It is understood he had just collected his social welfare payment that morning.

It is understood Mr Horgan led a chaotic lifestyle and had issues with alcohol and drugs.

In 2005, Mr Horgan was put on trial at the Central Criminal Court for the murder of Scottish national Douglas McManus, who had been stabbed to death in Fatima Mansions in Dublin in 2002.

During his trial the charge was reduced to manslaughter. Mr Horgan was then acquitted of the manslaughter charge by the jury after two hours of deliberation.

He was also acquitted by direction of the trial judge of assaulting Mark Holmes on the same date.

The trial heard three men “aggressively” entered Mr Horgan’s home in Fatima Mansions and attacked him over a previous argument.

The prosecution alleged that while being attacked, Mr Horgan produced a knife and stabbed Mr Holmes. Witnesses said they then say the deceased, Mr McManus, “stumbling through the doorway” of the flat “clutching his chest”.

Mr McManus was later pronounced dead at St James’s Hospital. State pathologist at the time, Dr Marie Cassidy, said he suffered nine stab wounds, including to the head and neck.