Digital Desk Staff
Updated at 11:15
Gardaí investigating the murder of national school teacher Ashling Murphy have carried out searches of properties in Dublin and Co Offaly.
As The Irish Times reports, both properties are understood to be linked to a man believed to be the chief suspect in the 23-year-old’s murder.
Ms Murphy was killed by strangulation as she was jogging along a stretch of canal near Tullamore on Wednesday afternoon.
The man attended a Dublin hospital on Thursday in the company of a family member where he received treatment for what doctors initially believed were self-inflicted wounds.
He remains in hospital under Garda supervision while detectives await medical clearance to interview him.
It is not clear when he will be physically and mentally assessed for interview but gardaí were hopeful this will happen imminently.
Funeral mass
It comes as the funeral mass for the school teacher will take place at 11am at St Brigid's Church in Mountbolus, followed by her burial in Lowertown Cemetery.
Her family have requested family flowers only and for all other funeral events to remain private.
A live stream of Ashling's funeral service will be available at MemorialLane.ie.
Messages of condolences can be left for the family on Lawless Funerals website or on RIP.ie.
The unexpected release of a suspect in the murder of Ashling Murphy would “not stop or hinder” the garda investigation, a retired senior detective has said.
As the Irish Examiner reports, within hours of the release of the man, it emerged that the investigation team had identified a second person they wished to speak to in relation to the fatal assault on the young teacher.
The garda investigation had attracted some criticism on social media after the release of the initial suspect and, of more significance, led to concern and fear among people, particularly women and girls, in Tullamore.
There had been speculation throughout Thursday, and some media reports, that the initial suspect was expected to be charged with a possibility he might be released pending a file to the DPP – and that this would happen sometime early on Friday morning.
Then, just before 11pm on Thursday, came a sudden statement from Garda HQ that not only had the man been released but that he had been “eliminated from Garda enquiries” and was “no longer a suspect”.
That arrest had stemmed from descriptions that two eyewitnesses had given to gardaí of the man who attacked Ms Murphy on the banks of the Grand Canal in the town.
“The impact of that news was definitely fear and unrest for a lot of women,” Ann Clarke, manager of Offaly Domestic Violence Support Services said.
Vicious crime
“There was a sense, that yes, there was this vicious crime, but the gardaí had him. Now, that person had nothing to do with it and the perpetrator was still at large.”
There had been indications from gardaí during Thursday that the case was still very much open.
Local Superintendent Eamonn Curley said in the morning that while a 40-year-old man had been arrested gardaí “continue to retain an open mind in this investigation”.
He said they have to follow where the evidence leads, not where their hunches might be.
The Irish Examiner understands that gardaí released him after the results of forensic tests came back, comparing his DNA and fingerprints to those found at the scene, which ruled him out.
As Friday wore on, it emerged that the investigation had not been impeded by the release of the first suspect.
A second man – described as a “person of interest” rather than formally a “suspect” – had been identified and gardaí were looking to talk to him.
Things are “moving at pace”, said one source.
