Man found dead in city flat stabbed 60 times

GARDAÍ BELIEVE a man found dead in a wardrobe in the Dublin flat where he lived had been stabbed more than 60 times.

They believe the killer was planning to dismember the body and dispose of it to conceal the crime.

The dead man was Christopher Jackson (53), who shared the flat on Prussia Street in Dublin’s north inner city with his wife.

While the results of the postmortem on the deceased have not been released, The Irish Times understands he had been stabbed more than 60 times.

Gardaí believe Mr Jackson was killed towards the end of last week, possibly on Thursday, and his body had then been wrapped in plastic bags and placed in the wardrobe at his flat.

The chief suspect was known to the dead man and appears to have gone missing in recent days from the Stoneybatter area, where the killing occurred. Gardaí believe the suspect had been living rough near the Phoenix Park on the banks of the river Liffey.

Detectives are working on the theory that the suspect was trying to arrange moving the body when the crime came to light. The suspect had tried to enlist the help of other people in concealing the crime and gardaí investigating the case may bring criminal charges against more than one person in relation to the killing.

As the chief suspect in the case was trying to make plans to remove Mr Jackson’s remains from the flat where the body was found, gardaí came into intelligence suggesting Mr Jackson had been killed. When they went to the rented premises on Saturday just before 3pm, they found Mr Jackson’s body wrapped in plastic in a wardrobe.

While the dead man was known to gardaí, he had come to their attention only for minor matters. He was not involved in organised crime and gardaí believe he was stabbed during the course of a row and that the killing was perhaps not premeditated.

The flat where the body was found was sealed off over the weekend and underwent an examination by the Garda Technical Bureau.

The house where the flat is located had been converted into several units and gardaí are hopeful some of the other residents may have heard something that will shed light on the dead man’s last movements.

Assistant State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis carried out a preliminary examination of the body at the scene before it was taken to the State Mortuary in Marino, north Dublin, for a full postmortem.

On Saturday, gardaí arrested a man in his 30s and a woman in her 40s for questioning. A second man in his 30s was arrested yesterday. All three were detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and were still being held last night at Mountjoy and the Bridewell Garda stations.

A number of items were taken from the flat for analysis to try to determine whether more than one weapon was used to stab Mr Jackson to death. Gardaí have also conducted house-to-house inquiries in the area and are examining CCTV footage to an effort to place the chief suspect at the scene in recent days.