New arrest by gardaí in hunt for pensioner’s killers
Late last month, detectives arrested seven people, all of whom were related, and held them for questioning at garda stations in Galway, Ballina, Swinford and Westport.
These arrests followed vital information being given to the gardaí by a member of the public who contacted them after a fresh public appeal on the case in May, the seventh anniversary of the 83-year-old’s killing.
The new information linked a vehicle owned by a known west of Ireland criminal family to the scene of the crime at Mr Fitzmaurice’s shop and home in Bellaghy, Charlestown, on the Sligo-Mayo border, in early May 1998.
Mr Fitzmaurice died of hypothermia after he was robbed, assaulted, gagged and tied to a chair in the bedroom of his house. He was a widowed father of four who lived alone over his drapery shop. It was five days before his body was found by a neighbour.
A reward of €12,000 was offered by local businesses, who linked up with Crimestoppers, the Garda organisation funded by the Department of Justice and the private sector, to try and find those responsible for the murder.
More than 30 gardaí were assigned to the case.
Yesterday’s arrest involved local gardaí and members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
The arrested man was being held at Togher Garda Station.
