Gardai investigating the death of the elderly Co Sligo draper, Mr Eddie Fitzmaurice, are still keeping an open mind on the motive for what they describe as a "particularly callous and brutal crime".
Mr Fitzmaurice (83) died from hypothermia, after he was bound to a chair and gagged in the bedroom of his premises in Bellaghy. The widower and father of four children lived alone beside his drapery shop. His body was discovered only on Wednesday evening after neighbours became concerned that he had not been seen for some days.
The investigating team of 40 gardai, headed by Chief Supt John Carey and assisted by members of the National Criminal Bureau of Investigation and the Garda Technical Bureau, was still trying to piece together the evidence at the incident centre in Charlestown Garda Station yesterday.
House-to-house inquiries were being conducted in an effort to establish his last movements, as it is believed that the crime may have occurred several days before his body was found. Robbery is believed to have been the main motive but it is understood that only a small amount of money was taken.
Mr Fitzmaurice was a private man who opened and closed his shop irregularly, but his Sunday routine was fairly fixed. He went to 12 o'clock Mass and from there to the pub. He bought groceries on the way home, which were often delivered to his house as he stopped for lunch en route. However last Sunday he did not call to the Candy Store shop, as usual.
The death has sparked off fears of a new wave of rural crime against the elderly, similar to that which occurred over two years ago when there was a spate of attacks and burglaries in the western region by "outside" gangs. In response, the Garda western region covering counties Clare, Galway, Roscommon and Mayo initiated Operation Shannon with 24-hour monitoring of Shannon bridges.
This was replaced by Operation Retrieval in December 1996, when traffic crossing the Shannon was monitored and mobile police patrols carried out spot checks. The result was a reported 60 per cent drop in attacks on the elderly, according to the gardai.
Last January, a Roscommon man who took part in one such incident - a brutal robbery on an elderly brother and sister - was jailed for nine years.
The Charlestown incident room appealed to the public yesterday for information which might help in the investigation into Mr Fitzmaurice's death. It can be contacted at (094)54104; on the Garda confidential freephone line at 1 800 666 111; or on the Crimestoppers' line at 1 800 2500 25.
