INVESTIGATION:GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING three deaths in Ballycotton in east Cork were last night awaiting the results of postmortem examinations on the bodies of two young girls and their father.
They expect the postmortems to confirm that the girls had been strangled and their father had died from burn injuries when his car crashed.
The man, named locally as John Butler (43), Ballybraher, Ballycotton, is believed to have been killed instantly after his car burst into flames when he hit a ditch on the main Ballycotton-Shanagarry Road just a kilometre from Ballycotton village at about 9.30am yesterday.
Gardaí later found Mr Butler’s two daughters, Zoe (6) and Ella (2), dead at the family home which he shared with his wife, the children’s mother, Una, who had earlier left to go to Cork city where she worked.
It is understood that when Ms Butler heard that a man had been killed in a car crash, she tried ringing her husband’s mobile and when she got no answer, she rang a relative.
The relative went with another family member to the Butlers’ home where they saw the two little girls and immediately rang gardaí. Insp Eoin Healy and Garda Cormac Ryan from Midleton travelled to the house.
Both girls were still in their pyjamas in the sitting room and the scene was preserved until State pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy arrived at the house before 5pm and carried out a preliminary examination of the bodies at the scene.
Meanwhile, gardaí travelled to Cork along with a family relative to break the news to Mrs Butler but she had already left work. She was on her way home when gardaí stopped her near Cloyne and a relative with them told her that her husband and children were dead.
Gardaí, under Supt Flor Horan of Midleton Garda station, immediately launched a criminal investigation.
Mr Butler’s badly burned body remained in his car at the scene of the crash until his remains were also examined by Dr Cassidy yesterday evening.
Gardaí established that Mr Butler bought a five-gallon drum of petrol at a garage in Shanagarry at about 9am which they found in the boot of his car.
They were awaiting technical tests to establish whether he had doused the car in petrol before crashing.
They have also spoken to one eyewitness who told them of seeing Mr Butler driving at speed before the crash. They have appealed to anyone else who may have seen him at any stage up to 9.30am to contact them at a special incident room in Midleton Garda station.
Meanwhile, Prof Cassidy was last night joined by deputy State pathologist Dr Michael Curtis and assistant State pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster to carry out the postmortems on Mr Butler and his two children at Cork University Hospital.
A native of Cobh and former employee of Irish Steel, Mr Butler had in more recent years been working in the construction industry but became unemployed over a year ago and was dependent on occasional work.
It is understood that Mr Butler used to mind the couple’s youngest daughter, Ella, when his wife was working while the couple’s other child, Zoe, was a first-class pupil in Scoil Réalt na Mara in Ballycotton village.
The couple married about 10 years ago and settled in Ballycotton where Mrs Butler grew up and where her family is well known. She has one sister and three brothers, while another brother died several years ago in a motorbike accident.
The HSE yesterday offered counselling services to those affected by the tragedy, while Archbishop Dermot Clifford, apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Cloyne, extended his sympathies to the family and asked for prayers for the deceased and grieving.