Cork gardaí ‘making progress’ on inquiry into homeless man’s murder

Gardaí investigating the murder of a homeless man in Cork have not ruled out the possibility that more than one person was involved in the killing or dismembering his body in an attempt to dispose of the remains.

Garda sources confirmed that they are making good progress in their investigation into the killing of Frankie Dunne (64) but say they are keeping an open mind on how many may have been involved in the murder.

“We’re keeping an open mind on that aspect of the investigation and on what appears to be attempts to dispose of Mr Dunne’s body after dismembering him which may have involved more than one person,” said one source.

However gardaí conceded that they remain baffled as to a motive for the killing as everyone they have spoken to in the homeless community confirmed that Mr Dunne was a harmless inoffensive individual even when drunk.

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‘My house was destroyed. The whole place was soaking’

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“He never showed any signs of violence or aggression towards anyone. He had a number of arrests but it was always just for being drunk in a public place and never seems to have caused anyone any trouble from we can see.

“So it’s a real mystery to us why anyone would attack him and attack him so violently and then set about dismembering his body like this – it’s completely at odds with the profile of him that we have built up,” said the source.

Gardaí have established that Mr Dunne did not carry a wallet and so have ruled out robbery as a motive for the attack on the victim, who was a father and a grandfather and originally from Churchfield on Cork's north side.

Gardaí have established from CCTV footage that Mr Dunne was alive and well at about 7pm on December 27th, leaving Cork Simon’s high support homeless centre, Clanmornin House on the Boreenamanna Road.

Clanmornin House is less than 500m from where Mr Dunne’s body was found hidden under a bush in the back garden of Castlegreina House, also on the Boreenamanna Road at 4pm on December 28th.

Mr Dunne’s head and arms had been severed but were later found not far away in the grounds of the unoccupied property and gardaí believe they were cut off in an attempt to dispose of the body.

Investigating officers are continuing to gather CCTV footage from all over Cork city including the north side where Mr Dunne continued to visit as they try to piece together his movements over the last 20 hours or so of his life.

A team of over 50 officers are working on the investigation under Det Supt Mick Comyns.

Meanwhile, gardaí have appealed for witnesses or anyone who noticed any suspicious activity in the Boreenamanna Road area since December 27th to contact the Bridewell Garda station on 021-4943330.