GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the murder of a man whose remains were found in west Dublin last Friday have named the victim as David Whyte, of New Cabra Road, Dublin 7.
Mr Whyte, a 35-year-old single man who had worked as a security guard, was found stabbed to death at Mill Lane, Palmerstown, Dublin 20. His remains were discovered by a man out walking his dog just before 6pm. The discovery was made close to a derelict church in a disused cemetery behind Stewart's Hospital. The area has been a popular spot for young people to meet and drink alcohol.
A postmortem on the remains revealed the victim had been stabbed more than 20 times on the upper body and neck. The deputy state pathologist Dr Michael Curtis also found that the victim had been dead for some time.
Gardaí believe Mr Whyte was killed some time between Thursday evening and early Friday morning.
The dead man was not carrying any identification. However, after pictures of his face and personal items were released to the media, family members and friends recognised him on television and contacted gardaí.
Mr Whyte's identity was confirmed on Monday night but was not released until yesterday to allow time for all family members to be contacted.
Supt John Quirke said seeing Mr Whyte's image on television had come as a shock to his family. Gardaí had assigned liaison officers to the family. Because Mr Whyte had never come to the Garda's attention before, Supt Quirke said releasing his photo was the only avenue open to gardaí in identifying him.
"We understand he may have been last seen alive in the Palmerstown area early on Friday morning," Supt Quirke said.
Detectives are working on the theory that Mr Whyte was killed at the spot where his remains were found. There is no known motive for his killing.
Mr Whyte, who was described by gardaí as a "loner", worked as a bouncer at a number of pubs and gardaí believe he may have been drinking in Palmerstown on Thursday night.
Gardaí are anxious to trace his last movements and have urged anybody who may have seen him on Thursday night or any of his friends who were in contact with him late last week to contact them.
Mr Whyte is described as being over 6ft in height and weighing about 15 stone. He was wearing a brown T-shirt with black jeans and white trainers. Gardaí in Ballyfermot can be contacted on (01) 6667200.