Post-mortems on five bodies from Cavan 'murder-suicide' to be carried out today
Post mortems will be carried out today on the bodies of five members of the same family who were found dead after a murder suicide in Co Cavan yesterday.
The town of Ballyjamesduff is in shock following the deaths of teachers Alan and Clodagh Hawe - and their three sons Liam, Niall and Ryan.
Psychologists have been drafted in to help the school communities to come to terms with the tragedy.
Alan Hawe - who was in his 40s and originally from Co Kilkenny - was found dead by gardaí alongside his wife Clodagh who was in her thirties in the downstairs of their house at Barconey outside Ballyjamesduff yesterday morning.
Upstairs, the bodies of their three young sons - brothers Liam aged 13 - Niall who was 11 and six-year-old Ryan were also found.
Detectives believe Mr Hawe, who had no history with the police, was solely involved in the killings.
Gardaí suspect Mr Hawe stabbed his wife and his three boys with a knife, before hanging himself.
“We believe all the answers are within that house, therefore the most likely scenario is that one person in that house may have caused the deaths of others,” Assistant Garda Commissioner John O’Driscoll told a press briefing.
Asst Comm O’Driscoll said that while there was no evidence of a firearm being used, “a number of objects found in the house remain the subject of technical examination”.
Psychologists have been dispatched to Castlerahan National School where Alan Hawe taught and where Niall and Ryan were pupils to help teachers and pupils to come to terms with a tragedy locals have described as ‘soul-destroying’ and ‘heartbreaking’.
Post mortems will begin at Our Lady of Lourdes in Drogheda today - but in County Cavan, the investigation into exactly what led to the deaths of a young family well loved by their community will continue.
