Massgoers saw bloody fatal stab victim on run

SHOCKED Massgoers saw a blood-soaked man running through Clones town centre a short time before his body was discovered by gardaí.

A murder investigation has been launched following the fatal stabbing of the 21-year-old Lithuanian man. He was found dead in a house on the Roslea Road, Clones, early on Sunday. He had suffered a number of injuries, including a fatal chest wound.

Detectives are attempting to piece together the events that led to his death, but it is believed a row broke out among a number of Lithuanian men at a party at a house 3km from where the body was discovered shortly after 9.30am.

The victim died following a drunken altercation at the end of the all-night party.

Gardaí had been called to the house earlier in the morning following complaints about the noise but left after issuing a warning.

It is believed the murdered man, who lived and worked in Fermanagh, fled the party at Corcummins on the Scotstown road, and sped away in an Audi car. He was chased by a group of people in two cars.

Following a high-speed chase, the cars stopped near St Tiernach’s Church. Neighbours reported hearing a commotion at 8.30am, with car doors banging and windows being smashed.

The victim was dragged from the vehicle but is thought to have escaped and began running towards Roslea Road.

Eyewitnesses attending early Sunday morning mass said they saw “very bedraggled-looking non-national running up the hill in the direction of the Roslea Road, bleeding and with his jeans and clothes torn”.

Detectives believe this was the man who was found dead in an upstairs bedroom of the house on the Roslea Road.

There were unconfirmed reports that a suspected murder weapon, a bread knife, was discovered, possibly in the church grounds.

The 21-year-old, who has been identified but the name not released until his family have been notified, died some time between 8.30am and 9.30am on Sunday, from a single stab wound to the chest.

The murder scene remained sealed off yesterday, while gardaí also raided the house at Corcummins on the road to Scotstown. A number of vehicles seized by investigators are being forensically examined.

A number of people who attended the party have been interviewed by gardaí.

The murdered man had been living and working in Fermanagh but had travelled to Clones the previous evening to attend the party.

Detectives are liaising with members of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, though they do not yet have any evidence that the murder suspect fled north following the killing.