Nephew in fresh plea over murder of pensioner

The nephew of a gentle, nature-loving, pensioner, murdered in Cork, has appealed to the public to help solve the five-year mystery surrounding the brutal killing.

The 73-year-old victim, Christopher ‘Gussie’ Hornibrook, was a regular sight in his local Cork City neighbourhood carrying out a daily routine of feeding birds every morning.

CCTV footage of the quiet, reclusive pensioner in his local shop on the evening of Nov 5, 2007, was featured on RTÉ’s Crimecall last night in a bid to jog the public’s memory.

Hours after his shopping trip, the pensioner was viciously beaten, tied to a chair and left alone to die.

His nephew John Hornibrook said he was still haunted by the thought of his elderly uncle dying alone in his home at Templeacre Avenue in Gurranabraher on the northside of the city.

“Nobody deserved to die the way that he did. It was shocking for anybody to do this to a man who had nothing, it was just desperate.”

The day before he was found dead, Gus visited a number of local shops and bought cigarettes and some sticks for the fire.

He got chips for his lunch at the Tasty Snacks Chipper as he often did.

Owner of Tasty Snacks, Jacintha Dennehy said the pensioner walked his local streets every day.

“We would know when Gus was coming as we would see the birds flying overhead and landing on the wiring and the ground and Gus would appear at the door.

“Gus was just an innocent old soul, who just kept to himself.

“He walked the roads from early in the mornings until the evenings, he came in... we saw him twice, three times a day.”

Gardaí established, at some point after 9.30pm on the night of Nov 5, 2007, after his visit to Singleton’s Shop in Gurranabraher or the early hours of Nov 6, a person or a gang of people entered the house and carried out the brutal assault which led to his death.

Detectives are also looking to track down one man who is thought to have vital information about the murder.

He made a brief phone call to Gurranabraher Garda Station on Nov 7 at 9.55pm but he never come forward since, despite numerous attempts to locate him.

Mr Hornibrook’s nephew has urged the public to come forward with any information to make sure the killer doesn’t attack another victim.

He said: “If somebody knows something, just come forward because it could happen to somebody else.

“I wouldn’t like anybody else to go through what we are going through at the moment.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact gardaí at Gurranabraher on [phone] or the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666111.

* Crimecall is broadcast RTÉ 1 at 10.15pm.