Gardaí investigating the fatal stabbing of Kevin Walsh in west Dublin at the weekend suspect he was attacked by a person known to him.
The 35-year-old had been expected to survive after having surgery to treat the wounds he was found with in an apartment in Lucan in the early hours of Sunday. His injuries were regarded as serious but not as life-threatening and the surgery was completed without complications. However, his condition deteriorated and he died in the hospital later on Sunday.
Due to the unusual circumstances of his death, Garda sources said the postmortem findings, including toxicology reports, would need to be closely analysed to determine if his death is treated as a murder. Mr Walsh had a history of addiction, sources said.
Mr Walsh was well known to gardaí and had previously served a number of prison sentences, including for killing a man in a fight when he was a teenager.
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Gardaí have sealed off and examined two scenes since the weekend, including the apartment where Mr Walsh was found injured and another property in west Dublin.
While it is suspected that Mr Walsh was assaulted in an apartment in the Shackleton Estate in Lucan, gardaí have not ruled out the possibility that he was attacked elsewhere. A property in west Dublin has also been sealed off to undergo a forensic examination.
Detectives believe Mr Walsh took a taxi from Allentown, Tallaght to the Shackleton area in the early hours of Sunday and have not ruled out the possibility that he had been stabbed beforehand. The investigation team, based at Lucan Garda station, is also trying to establish if the deceased was with someone around that time.
Mr Walsh, then of Allenton Green, Tallaght, was 16 when he killed James Burke between September 22nd and 26th, 2005 at the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, Clondalkin. They had gone to a field to drink cans when Mr Burke, who was British, was fatally assaulted.
Mr Walsh was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to eight years in St Patrick’s Institution, with the final five years suspended. He had more than 70 previous convictions, including for violent assault, carjacking, possession of an explosive device, robbery, handling stolen property and road traffic offences.
Gardaí appealed for anyone with information about Mr Walsh’s movements last weekend to contact them. In particular, motorists who were driving in either Tallaght or Lucan between late Saturday night and 3am on Sunday, and who have dashcam footage, were asked to come forward.
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