Murdered bachelor ‘was assaulted inside his house’

THE man leading the murder hunt for the killer of Croom bachelor, Liam O’Donovan, confirmed yesterday that Mr O’Donovan had been assaulted inside his house.

Mr O’Donovan’s body was found on the street outside his house at St Sennan’s Terrace on Saturday morning.

Speculation that Mr O’Donovan was attacked when he went outside after seeing somebody try to steal his car has been dismissed by gardaí. Supt Joe Roe said it appeared that Mr O’Donovan had gone to bed and was awakened by somebody who entered the house through a window.

He said: “We are happy with the progress of the investigation. More than 400 houses in Croom have been visited by gardaí and a vast area in and around the village has been searched. But we would still appeal to anybody with any information to come forward, no matter how insignificant they might think it is.”

He would not comment on speculation that the murder weapon had been found along with gloves in a wheelie bin in the village.

Mr O’Donovan, aged 59, was stabbed to death early on Saturday morning after he returned home some time after 1.30am.

He was a life-long member of Croom United soccer team. He did fundraising for the club’s monthly lottery. One theory is that the robbery at his home was carried out in the belief that he had lottery cash at home.

Gardaí suspect that at least one person broke into his house some time after Mr O’Donovan got home.

Supt Roe said: “It was a violent assault. This was a heinous crime carried out on a man who was one of the most popular members of the community in Croom.”

A garda incident room can be contacted on 061 382949.