Gardaí to quiz husband over body in wardrobe

The man who jumped from a third-floor window, after gardaí discovered the body of missing woman, Joanne Lee, in the property was the deceased’s estranged husband, it has been confirmed.

Keith Lee, 41, was under guard in hospital, where he was being treated for broken bones and cuts, following the incident at a house on Ranelagh Road, in Dublin, on Thursday afternoon.

His estranged wife, Joanne Lee, 38, was found dead in a wardrobe in a flat at the building, when gardaí forced their way into the property, after finding her car outside.

Ms Lee, also known as Joanne Ball, was reported missing by Mr Lee just before midnight last Tuesday, but the last-known sighting of her, before that, was eight days earlier, on February 5, when she left her parents’ house at Garristown, near Ashbourne, Co Meath.

Gardaí yesterday made an appeal for help in tracking her movements between then and Thursday afternoon. Superintendent Gerry Delmar, who is leading the investigation, urged anyone who was in touch with her during that time to get in contact.

“Joanne had access to a car, a silver Nissan Micra, registration number 08 MH 16073. The car was located at this address here, but we do not know where it was since February 5. Anyone who may have seen the car, or Joanne, in that time, we’d like to hear from,” he said.

Gardaí were waiting the results of a post-mortem examination, before formally declaring Ms Lee’s death a murder, but confirmed a murder investigation was underway, late yesterday afternoon. Supt Delmar said officers were awaiting the release of Mr Lee from hospital, before formally questioning him.

They had no indication of when he would be released. Supt Delmar said his injuries, while not life-threatening, were serious and were consistent with a fall from a height. Gardaí found him lying in agony on the ground, at the rear of property, directly beneath the flat they were searching.

“Only for the swift actions of a garda from Mountjoy, who stemmed his injures, well, that certainly saved him,” Supt Delmar said.

A member of the gardaí at the scene. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins

The couple, both originally from Coolock, in Dublin, had been together since Ms Lee was a teenager and they shared a love of dogs and hillwalking, but the relationship had run into trouble in recent months and Ms Lee was living with her parents.

It is understood Mr Lee was not living in the flat where his wife’s body was found, and gardaí said they were awaiting the results of a technical examination of the property to try to establish whether she died there or whether someone had moved her body there. Early indications were that she might have been dead for a number of days, Supt Delmar said.

Tenants of other flats in the property were moved to hotels, while a forensics team examined the building.

Ms Lee’s uncle, John Curry, who visited the scene, spoke tearfully of her family’s anguish. “I’m just devastated; the whole family is, just taken apart, just torn the soul out of us,” he said.