Killer may have stalked victim for several days

GARDAÍ say that the killer of a 36-year-old suspected drug dealer may have followed him for days before firing a number of shots into him at almost point-blank range in the hallway of his rented home.

The killer struck at Darren Falsey’s home in Carrigaline, Co Cork, on Wednesday afternoon.

Mr Falsey, who was unemployed, had been in Cork city earlier in the day with his partner, Lorraine Conroy, and her young son.

Ms Conroy dropped him to their home at Ashbourne Court at 2pm.

She returned 45 minutes later to find him lying in a poll of blood in the hallway.

A postmortem examination carried out yesterday afternoon at Cork University Hospital found he had been shot twice in the side and at least once in the back of the head.

At a press conference in Togher garda station yesterday, senior gardaí confirmed that they had found shell casings at the house that had been fired from a handgun.

Superintendent John Gilligan, head of the Garda Press Office, said a team of experience detectives was trying to establish a motive for the killing.

Supt Gilligan said up to 60 gardaí were now working on the case and more would be drafted in if it was deemed necessary.

He said that people had already contacted gardaí offering information and he appealed for anybody who knew anything about the murder to come forward.

The senior garda added that whoever carried out the killing had probably carried out surveillance on the victim at least that day and possibly for a number of days.

Mr Falsey’s sister, Sue-Anne Falsey, posted a message on her Facebook page in which she appealed for people to allow herself and her family to deal with the terrible situation privately.

“We are extremely shocked,” she wrote.

She said that out of consideration for her late brother and his family she didn’t want people posting comments on either his (Facebook) wall, or on those of any of his relatives.

Ms Falsey added that her brother’s funeral would be strictly private and limited to family members only.

Members of the Garda Technical Bureau, based in Dublin, were still combing the house yesterday in an effort to find clues to the killer’s identity.

Cork City Garda Division’s specialised search team were meanwhile examining an extended area around Ashbourne Estate and the adjoining Ferney Road.

Uniform and plainclothes detectives were also carrying out house-to-house inquiries in the area yesterday.

Detectives were also examining CCTV footage from shops in the Carrigaline area to see if they can identify any known criminals and suspicious vehicles.

Inspector Billy Duane said such an incident was traumatic for the tight-knit community of Carrigaline and also appealed for the public’s help. Supt Gilligan said that a lot of people walked and cycled through the area and he was hoping some of them may have seen suspicious activity, oreven heard the shots being fired.

* Anybody with information is asked to contact the special incident room at Togher Garda station on [phone].