Brutal murder instils fear in peaceful community

A PALPABLE fear exists in a tight-knit and normally very law-abiding community following the murder of a frail pensioner.

Elderly people, especially those living on their own, are praying that gardaí will quickly catch the killer of Christy “Gussy” Hornibrook, whose bound body was discovered at his home in Gurranabraher, Cork.

The 74-year-old’s body was found at around 12.30pm at his home at 21 Templeacre Avenue by his older brother, Bobby.

More than a dozen bouquets have been placed in the front garden of the terraced house.

Several of the bouquets had notes attached. One read: “Gussy, you will be sadly missed, but always remembered”.

Yesterday, a number of people stopped at the spot to say a prayer.

Two of them, Kathleen Sexton and Patricia O’Driscoll, spoke about how the murder had shocked and upset people in a neighbourhood which prided itself in its clean-living community spirit.

It also emerged that this community’s warmth was extended to Gussy while he was alive, even though he was a man who was an introvert and spoke to hardly anybody.

“I was a neighbour of Gussy’s and I can tell you he wouldn’t hurt a fly. I would give him money from time to time and he’d just nod his head in thanks. He was an old dote,” Mrs Sexton said.

Gussy didn’t beg openly, but people took pity on him and it became regular for them to give him a hand-out.

Mrs O’Driscoll said her late husband Paddy would often give Gussy cigarettes. “The whole neighbourhood is very upset. We couldn’t believe anybody would murder him, the man had nothing. We’re all hoping the gardaí find who did it,” she said.

“A lot of elderly people living around here are frightened. Nothing like this has happened here before. It’s a very well-established and peaceful area,” Mrs O’Driscoll added.

Gussy used to visit the Tasty Snacks chipper close to his home. The takeaway is owned by Michael O’Connell and his family, who used to give Gussy his lunch and tea for free.

A spokesman for the staff described Gussy as a very quiet person who was looked after by the whole community.

“We often used to see elderly women giving him some money out of their pensions, and there was a man who regularly went to his house and gave him coal for the fire,” the spokesman said.

He added that when Gussy came into the chip shop staff would ask him what he wanted and he’d just point to it.

“He’d usually look for either pies, sausages, beef burgers or salad burgers,” the spokesman said.

Rory O’Connor and Dan Daly stood a few yards from the murder scene yesterday, discussing the shocking news.

“You’d often see him collecting papers to burn in the fire. You couldn’t say anything bad about the man,” Mr Daly said.

“I’d see him walking every day, although he wouldn’t acknowledge you. He was probably one of the last unusual characters and the community as a whole looked after him well,” Mr O’Connor said.

Gavin Manning, manager of the nearby Top of the Hill bar, said a lot of people were very angry that such a terrible thing had been perpetrated in their midst.

“It’s disgusting that somebody would do that to a 74-year-old. Nobody deserves that,” said Mr Manning.

Sharon O’Callaghan, who works at Con’s (O’Leary’s) shop, said Gussy was a regular customer.

“People are shocked. There’s a lot of unease around here, especially among older people who are living alone,” said Ms O’Callaghan.