Photofit of last taxi passenger released

Gardai have issued a photofit of the last passenger carried by the Galway taxi driver, Mrs Eileen Costello-O'Shaughnessy, on the night she was murdered.

The photofit of a man of average build, believed to be about 20 years old and wearing a baseball cap, was broadcast last night on the RTE programme, Crimeline, which featured a reconstruction of Mrs Costello-O'Shaughnessy's last-known movements.

Gardai also revealed a photofit of a man in his mid-20s with fair to red hair who was seen jumping over a wall near where the taxi driven by the 47-year-old mother of two was found abandoned on November 30th on the outskirts of Galway.

Gardai are "most anxious" to speak to anyone fitting either description. They cannot say whether the two descriptions are of the same man, but admit there are "a lot of similarities".

Mrs Costello-O'Shaughnessy's body was found on the following day, nine miles from Galway City and seven miles from her car, on a muddy track outside Claregalway, off a road known locally as Tinker's Lane.

The lane is sometimes frequented by courting couples and gardai believe "there was a lot of activity in the area that night".

They have appealed for anyone who may have been in the area that night to come forward, in particular the occupants of a red car which had its lights off. Gardai are also anxious to speak to a female who contacted them anonymously three days after the incident and "appeared to have a lot of information".

They also believe Mrs Costello-O'Shaughnessy spoke to a girl on Mainguard Street in Galway before she picked up her last fare.

Mrs Costello-O'Shaughnessy's body was fully clothed but very badly beaten. The money-belt she normally wore around her waist was missing, but was located in her car.

Her brother later said he believed Mrs Costello-O'Shaughnessy had put up a battle for her boss's bag of money and was killed "for less than £100".

A post-mortem examination confirmed that Mrs Costello-O'Shaughnessy had died from severe head injuries and that she had not been sexually assaulted.

An investigation involving up to 70 gardai and the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations is now entering its third week. More than 2,000 people have been interviewed during the investigation.