Gardai investigating the unexplained deaths of four women in Leixlip, Co Kildare, believe the results of a toxicology report due today will establish the cause of their deaths.
The gardai were unable last night to release any details of the circumstances of the deaths.
The badly-decomposed bodies were found by the owner of the house, who had become concerned for the women's welfare He found them at around midday. Three bodies were in the front room of the house, the other in the kitchen.
Dr Marie Cassidy, the Deputy State Pathologist, was continuing her post mortem examinations on the four at Tallaght Hospital last night and she was expected to "work though the night". Staff at Beaumont Hospital will give gardai a toxicology report today.
When the owner arrived there was no signs of a break-in or a struggle. A fridge was blocking the front entrance of 12 Rinawade Grove, a threebedroomed home on an estate near Leixlip village. A table and chairs were blocking the back door and the heating system was on full.
The house owner, who rents the accommodation to the Eastern Regional Health Authority, immediately contacted gardai. They found three of the women wrapped in a duvet and the other lying on the floor of the kitchen. Gardai said the bodies had been there "for some time".
"It is very rare to see four bodies coming out of one home. It is a tragic sequence of events for those involved and for the people of Leixlip," said Det Supt Tony Sourke, who is heading the investigation.
The four women, who all have the same surname, are understood to originate from the South Circular Road area of Dublin. One of the women, thought to be an aunt of the other three, was 83. Two of the women were twins aged 52 and the other woman was 47.
Neighbours appeared to know little about them and said their curtains were always drawn even during the day. A religious portrait in an upstairs bedroom window had been there for up to two years, according to one man.
Two of the women were identified by family members yesterday, but the other two bodies were so badly decomposed that identification would depend on dental records or DNA, according to a Garda source. "Establishing the cause of death will depend on toxicology," he said.
Earlier reports suggested the mother of the three women was found at the house. However, it is understood their mother died 12 years ago. Gardai would not release the names of the women until all family members had been notified.
People living near their home had little contact with the four. One woman said the only time the women were seen was when they went shopping, normally in a taxi. While the community knew little about them, there was deep shock in the area over their deaths.
One woman said: "It's so sad - they died alone and nobody knew them." Last night one of their neighbours placed a bouquet of flowers on the pillar outside the house.
A local boy said he called on the women about a week ago to offer to cut their grass but there was no reply. Another woman remarked that their grass was never cut and the women often dressed in "scruffy" clothes.
Father Rossa Doyle, a local curate, said the deaths were the second "grievous" tragedy to befall the area, following last week's death of two teenagers on the railway line.
