Mayo man bludgeoned wife to death with metal bar before taking his own life, inquest told

A 74-year-old painter bludgeoned his wife to death with a two-foot metal bar and inflicted a serious head injury on his son before causing his own death by drinking weed-killer, an inquest has heard.

The bodies of Tom and Kitty Fitzgerald (aged 72) were discovered at their home in Knockadoon, Irishtown, Claremorris, Co Mayo on November 1, 2016 by Aoife O’Gorman, the girlfriend of their adopted son, Paul Fitzgerald (aged 38), who was struck on the head with the same metal bar that was used to kill his mother.