Murdered student found dead in holdall may have known her killer

Gardaí investigating the murder of Malawian student and former Sunday School teacher Rudo Mawere are exploring whether she knew her killer and if she died close to where her body was found.

One possibility being examined is that the person who killed the 26-year-old business student abandoned the holdall containing Ms Mawere’s body in a moment of panic.

The bag, measuring just 2ft by 4ft, was left propped up against a car outside a house on a footpath on St David’s Terrace, just 100 metres away from the entrance of McKee Barracks on Blackhorse Avenue in Dublin.

Gardaí are also looking into the possibility that she was murdered close to where her body was found. The bag was left at 7pm on Saturday and not moved until it was found at 8.30am on Sunday when a passer-by discovered it contained the body of the young student.

Ms Mawere had been living in a flat on Leinster Road in Rathmines. Her course was ongoing and it is understood she had been due to meet up with friends on Saturday, but it is understood she never established contact with them. Gardaí are looking into the possibility that she knew her killer.

Rudo, who was just 4ft 11in tall, had previously advertised her services as an au pair, stating on a website in 2010 that she had “passion for children since I was young. I love being around kids”.

She also said she had worked as a Sunday school teacher in Malawi and had worked as an au pair while in Ireland, but that the host family had moved to Wales. Ms Mawere, who was then living in Dublin 11, wrote: “It was really fun having lots of kids and teaching them about God.”

Gardaí probing the death of Ms Mawere are reviewing whether the killing may have been a spur-of-the-moment incident, and that the murderer may have been travelling in the direction of the Phoenix Park with the holdall containing her body when they panicked and left it on the footpath.

Ms Mawere was fully clothed but her head was covered with a bin bag and a postmortem confirmed that she had died of asphyxiation.

It is understood the Irish Embassy in the Malawi capital, Lilongwe, have been involved in attempts to contact the woman’s family in the southern African country after the discovery of her body. It is thought Ms Mawere may also have a relative living in England.

Gardaí have been tracing Ms Mawere’s friends and colleagues to establish her movements in the hours before her death. Her flatmate was interviewed yesterday, while CCTV footage from a convenience store close to where Ms Mawere’s body was found was also being checked. It is understood Ms Mawere may also have been in a relationship with a Zimbabwean man and gardaí have asked anyone with any information to come forward.

Ms Mawere was a human resources development student at the BCT Institute on Dublin’s Parnell Square and, in addition to au pair work, is also believed to have worked at St Luke’s Hospital.

The shocking discovery of Ms Mawere’s body comes almost eight years after the remains of another Malawian woman, Paiche Unyolo Onyemaechi, was found wrapped in a plastic bag near a stream in Brenar Bridge, Piltown, Co Kilkenny. Ms Onyemaechi was the daughter of the then-justice minister of Malawi and her killer has never been identified.