3 SUSPECTS IN MISSING KIERAN MURDER PROBE
Cops believe man attacked, killed & dumped at 3 sites
GARDAI have now identified three suspects for the brutal murder of missing man Kieran Quilligan – and also know where he was beaten to death.
And the Irish Mirror has learned detectives believe Mr Quilligan was attacked in one location, brought to another spot where he was killed and then dumped in another area.
Detectives are awaiting formal identification of the body found in a rural gully on Monday before making a move on the suspects, but sources say there will be quick progress if the body is that of the missing Cork man.
Sources say gardai are awaiting results to confirm the identity of the remains found in East Cork but officers have no doubt it is Mr Quilligan, who went missing from the city in September last year.
Detectives were immediately fearful for his life after he vanished in the city centre – and Monday’s discovery of a badly decomposed body was the result of an intelligence-led investigation into his disappearance.
Sources have told us gardai are satisfied he was killed by a smalltime heroin gang based in Cork city – over a tiny debt.
We have established cops believe he was first attacked in a property in the city centre on September 1 last year – the day he was last seen alive.
Afterwards gardai believe he was transferred, still alive, into a car where he was then taken to a site in the Little Island area, around 10km from the city centre.
Officers believe he was then marched to a field in Little Island and beaten to death there.
The attack was so vicious that Mr Quilligan suffered more than
two dozen fractures. Gardai believe the 47-year-old died at the scene, but the gang then moved his body to a ditch off a road close to Whitegate village in East Cork – around 30km away.
Officers have spent months probing Mr Quilligan’s disappearance and had intelligence that he had been killed and dumped near Whitegate.
On Monday a dog specially trained to find human remains was brought in and indicated a gully. When it was searched, officers found the body.
Gardai have already built up a picture of what they believe happened to Mr Quilligan and have identified three men they believe were involved in his death.
But they think others were also involved.
When last seen, Mr Quilligan was wearing an orange T-shirt, blue Under Armour tracksuit pants and black Nike runners.
Gardai have appealed for anyone with information to call them on 021 452 2000.