Police launched two separate murder inquiries today after a pensioner and a lodger were found dead at their homes.
The body of a woman aged 75 was discovered in the bathroom when her two sons called at her house in Warrenpoint, Co Down, in Northern Ireland, last night. She was named locally as Annie McCartan.
She had suffered a violent attack, detectives said.
Hours earlier a 59-year-old man's body was found at a house in Bangor, Co Down. The man had been renting a room in the property on Central Avenue in the town.
Both victims, who have not been named, suffered head injuries.
The last person to see the Ms McCartan alive, four hours before her body was discovered, was her daughter-in-law.
It is understood no signs of forced entry have been found at her home, where she had lived for a number of years.
PSNI Superintendent Alan McCrum, who is leading the murder hunt, confirmed the pensioner had been the victim of a violent attack. "We are following a number of open lines of inquiry," he said.
A post mortem examination is being carried out to determine how the woman died. There have been no arrests.
Mr McCrum said the motive for the murder in the town's Summer Hill area had yet to be established but he urged neighbours to watch out for the elderly and vulnerable.