The gruesome final chapter in the life of a con-woman who left a trail of fraud across three continents unfolded at a coroner’s inquest in Newcastle West, Co Limerick, yesterday.

Julia Holmes moved to Co Limerick in 2012 after making contact with Thomas Ruttle on the internet.

Five men walked into a garda station, late at night, and shockingly revealed how, while carrying out a break-in at an isolated rural house in Co Limerick, they had discovered two rotting bodies.

The sad details over what led to the deaths of a serial fraudster grandmother and her beekeeper lover are to be disclosed today at their joint inquest in West Limerick.

The mystery deaths and Thomas Ruttle and Julia Holmes and the bizarre circumstances in which their bodies were found in a house in West Limerick will unfold at a hearing later this month.

Postmortems carried out on a couple found dead in a house in Limerick have failed to identify the cause of their deaths, the Irish Examiner has learned.

The Irish Food Awards say that tests carried out on a honey brand submitted for its consideration by a convicted con artist and her partner — who were found dead in their Limerick home in May — show the product could have come from Ireland.

The final sad chapter in the double suicide of a couple in Co Limerick was concluded yesterday when the body of international fraudster Julia Holmes was cremated at Little Island Crematorium in Cork.

Mourners at the funeral of Thomas Ruttle, the 56-year-old Co Limerick man who died in a suicide pact with his partner, Julia Holmes, 63, were told yesterday this was not the time for blame and anger.

Details of the final chapter of the Thomas Ruttle/Julia Holmes saga unfolded last night.

Funeral arrangements for Thomas Ruttle, who was found dead with convicted fraudster Julia Holmes in Co Limerick last week, are expected to be finalised today.

Friends of Thomas Ruttle had become concerned that his fraudster partner, Julia Holmes, had been trying in recent months to sell his family home in Co Limerick and move to Spain.

Julia Holmes’ odyssey of international fraud may end in a pauper’s grave in Co Limerick.

Gardaí have confirmed a body found lying on a bed decomposing next to the body of con woman Julia Holmes, is that of her partner Thomas Ruttle.

The couple found dead in a Co Limerick farmhouse on Monday are likely to have separate funerals, the Irish Examiner has learned.

Gardai have confirmed members of a criminal gang who broke into a farmhouse and discovered the decomposing corpses of a fraudster and her partner, are not likely to face charges of breaking and entering until the investigation into the couple's deaths is concluded.

Three members of the Travelling community who discovered the bodies of Thomas Ruttle and Julia Holmes during a break-in to the Ruttle home early on Monday are expected to be charged with attempted burglary.

Poison suspected in deaths of Limerick couple; Christian-owned company found guilty of discrimination in gay cake case; and George Takei calls for a Yes vote in marriage referendum. Just some of the latest and most read stories on irishexaminer.com.

The violent deaths of a Co Limerick couple took a new twist last night, as Marie Cassidy, the State pathologist, was unable to identify either victim or the causes of death.

Shocked community say Julia Holmes seemed to arrive out of the blue more than two years ago, writes Midwest Correspondent Jimmy Woulfe