Gardaí seal off flat in suitcase body investigation

A flat has been sealed off for forensic examination today as gardaí hunt the killer of an African woman whose body was found dumped in a suitcase.

The property in Aughrim Street in the Stoneybatter area of north Dublin is a few hundred yards from where the grim discovery was made on Sunday morning.

Detectives suspect the victim, a student in her mid-20s and from Malawi, may have had a row with a man in the area on Saturday afternoon or evening.

They have also appealed for anyone who may have seen a man wheeling a large travel bag-type suitcase in the Stoneybatter, Blackhorse Avenue, Prussia Street or Aughrim Street areas on Saturday to come forward.

It is believed the woman, with a last-known address of a flat in Leinster Road, Rathmines, may have been in a relationship with an African man.

She had been strangled or suffocated and was found with a plastic bag over her head but no other serious injuries. She died from asphyxiation.

The sealed-off property is in a large house converted into a number of flats.