A post-mortem was being carried out last night on the body of Brendan O'Donnell, the triple murderer found dead at Dublin's Central Mental Hospital yesterday morning.
The surprise death of the 23-year-old was apparently due to natural causes, according to the Department of Justice and the Eastern Health Board. Both said they would await the results of the post-mortem, but there were no obvious signs of suicide.
A sister of one of O'Donnell's victims said her heart went out to his family even though many would be relieved at his death. Mrs Margaret Maher, whose brother, Father Joe Walsh, was the last to be shot, said: "I wish I could be there for them right now. I wish I could go to the funeral but I do not think it would be right to intrude on their grief."
O'Donnell had been admitted to St Vincent's Hospital on Monday for treatment after cutting his arms. He had been returned to the Central Mental Hospital in
Dundrum on Tuesday, where he was found dead in his bed at 8.20 a.m. yesterday.
Attempts to revive him failed and he was again taken to St Vincent's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 9 a.m.
He was serving life imprisonment for the 1994 murders of Ms Imelda Riney
(29), her son, Liam, (3) and Father Walsh (37). After the longest criminal jury trial in the history of the State, the jury rejected a verdict of guilty but insane. In the Co Clare village of Whitegate yesterday, near where the murders took place, the news was greeted with mixed emotions. Mr Tony Muggivan, who looked after O'Donnell for a period, said he would be angry "till the day I die"
because of the circumstances of his life and death.
He had kept in regular contact with O'Donnell since his imprisonment, he said. The last time they spoke by telephone O'Donnell's speech had been slurred and Mr Muggavin assumed he was on heavy medication. " He was too fit to have died from natural causes and I think he committed suicide."
The Eastern Health Board, to which all queries to the Central Mental Hospital were referred, said details of a patient's medication were confidential.
At Arbour Hill he had been put on the drugs Largactil, Prozac and Dalmane.
Largactil is the brand name of a widely used drug for suppressing abnormal behaviour, reducing aggression and inducing a generally tranquil state. Among its possible side effects are weight gain, blurred vision, and dizziness or fainting.