Askeaton deaths: ‘I knew Thomas all my life... we are all sad, this is very sad’

Shocked community say Julia Holmes seemed to arrive out of the blue more than two years ago, writes Midwest Correspondent Jimmy Woulfe

As in life, Julia Holmes’ death was shrouded in mystery.

Her body, along with that of her partner, Thomas Ruttle, was discovered at around 2am on Monday by a person who broke into Mr Ruttle’s two-storey cottage at Boolaglass about five miles from Rathkeale on the Askeaton road.