Gardaí have identified the man who was found dead in a suitcase in the Royal Canal in Dublin two weeks ago. They say that he was a Romanian who arrived in Ireland in the middle of 1999. He was in his early 20s and lived in Dublin's north inner city.
Detectives are now trying to establish where the man was murdered. They say that a number of foreign nationals came forward as a result of widespread publicity and the publication of the man's photograph. This helped in identifying him. Gardaí are currently checking with the Department of Justice to see if he was an asylum-seeker or if he had obtained residency in Ireland.
Garda forensic experts searched two Dublin premises today in an attempt to establish where the man was murdered. One of the premises was the man's flat in Sherrard Street on the north side of the city. The other building searched was the home of the dead man's Russian girlfriend on Strand Road in Sandymount on the south side.
The man died after suffering at least five blows to the head. Detectives are now trying to establish where and when he was last seen alive. They have asked the public to report anything of a suspicious nature along the Royal Canal bank from the beginning of July to 20 July. The dead man's flat is just 100 yards away from the canal where his body was found.
