The chief suspect for the murder of Malawian woman Rudo Mawere has been found dead in England.
It is understood the man, believed to be a Zimbabwean national, fled the State through Northern Ireland and had been living in Coventry.
UK police contacted their Irish counterparts after the suspect's body was discovered in Higham, Kent, shortly after 9am this morning.
A Garda source confirmed the dead man was wanted as a prime suspect in the killing of 26-year-old Ms Mawere on Saturday evening. "This is a significant development," the source said.
His body was discovered in a wooded area in Higham by a dog walker. Detectives were liaising with the gardaí in connection with the man’s death and the investigation into Ms Mawere’s death.
Ms Mawere's remains were discovered on Sunday on St David's Terrace, Blackhorse Avenue in north Dublin.
Her body had been stuffed into a travel bag and gardaí believe it was dumped next to a number of bins at about 7pm on Saturday evening.
She was fully clothed and had a plastic bag over her head when found. A postmortem showed she died as a result of asphyxiation.
Gardaí yesterday examined a property on Aughrim Street in Stoneybatter, a short distance from where the body was found, in which they believe Ms Mawere may have been killed.
Detectives believed that the chief suspect had fled to Northern Ireland by the time her body was found and then travelled to Britain by ferry.
Gardaí are working on theory that Ms Mawere was killed by a male friend she had lent money to. They believe Ms Mawere and the man, who is also African, may have rowed about the money.