A man has been arrested in connection with the murder of a Co Waterford horse breeder who was found stabbed to death in his Tramore home yesterday
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| Dick Forristal with "Blue Corrig" in Leopardstown in 2003 |
The man, who was arrested in the Waterford area, is being held for questioning under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. He may be held for up to six hours initially, and a further six if required.
Dick Forristal (66) was found dead at his home at Carrigavantry stud near Tramore at around 2.30pm. He had earlier attended the funeral of Tara Whelan (17), who died in a suicide bomb attack in Turkey last week.
His body was discovered in a downstairs room by a caller to the property who immediately alerted gardaí.
One line of inquiry being pursued by gardaí last night was that Mr Forristal may have been killed when he disturbed burglars at the house on his return from the funeral. He had lost a large amount of blood.
Gardaí sealed off the house and members of the Garda Technical Bureau examined the scene. Fields around the house and farm are being closely examined today, in case a murder weapon has been discarded there.
Footprint evidence may also be contained in the fields.
Locals said Mr Forristal's property had been targeted by burglars on several occasions. A Garda source said a series of burglaries had occurred in Tramore and the surrounding areas in recent days. The latest was on Wednesday when the house of a prominent local was targeted by thieves.
It is believed a gang is behind the recent robberies and that its members are known locally.
State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy travelled to Waterford yesterday and carried out a preliminary postmortem on the remains last night.
The Garda investigation was being treated as a suspicious death inquiry but was upgraded to a murder inquiry just before midnight when Prof Cassidy's examination confirmed that Mr Forristal had been murdered. A number of marks were found on his body.
Detectives from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation were sent to Waterford to help gardaí with the investigation.
Mr Forristal's horse, Blue Corrig, was due to race at the upcoming Galway races.