Missed Mass and newspapers prompt call to house of tragedy
Neighbour finds three bodies in pool of blood behind unlocked front door
Related Articles
THE FIRST indication that something was wrong in the quiet, rural community was when the three family members failed to show up for Sunday Mass.
When the daily papers went uncollected from the local shop, a concerned neighbour called to the large house on the hill yesterday morning and came upon a scene of horrendous bloodshed.
The front door was unlocked and as the neighbour entered, he stumbled upon the bodies of retired farmer John Joe Sleator, his wife Mary and their son Pat, just after 10am.
All three had been shot dead with a gun which was licensed to the farmhouse, at Ballynure, Grangecon, Co Wicklow, where the Sleator family lived all their lives.
The two-storey house remained sealed off last night as forensic detectives and State pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy carried out a thorough examination of the scene inside.
The exact time of the killings is unknown but it is believed the fatal shots were fired sometime after 12pm on Saturday.
Nobody in the area heard the shots which killed elderly parents Mary and John Joe Sleator, both in their 80s, or the final shot which well-known sculptor Pat Sleator used to take his own life.
"This is a terrible tragedy, words cannot describe the shock the community of Grangecon is feeling at this time," said Fr Tommy Dillon, parish priest at Baltinglass which takes in Grangecon parish. "These were lovely, well-known and well-respected people who were very active in the parish. It's a very sad occasion," said Fr Dillon.
John Joe Sleator, a retired farmer whose land is now let among a number of local tillage farmers, was a choir member at the local Blessed Oliver Plunket Church in Grangecon.
His wife Mary, a retired school teacher, was a regular reader and their son Pat collected in the church every week.
They had retired from the farm more than 15 years ago and were described by neighbours as "extremely warm and active people".
"Mary and John Joe used to play golf in Baltinglass Golf Club and were enjoying their retirement," said neighbour Tommy Byrne.
The elderly couple also have two daughters, Carol and Deirdre, who live in England and Limerick respectively.
Their son Pat, believed to be in his early 40s, had always lived at the family home and was unmarried.
He worked for some time with farm machinery and earth moving and recently became involved in sculpture.
"Pat could turn his hand to anything mechanical," said Ciaran Kelly who leased land from the Sleators."He carried out repairs on machinery and sculpted artworks from sheet metal in a workshop behind the house.
"This is a total shock. I was only talking to Pat and John Joe last week and they didn't appear to have any worries or concerns," said Mr Kelly.
According to neighbours, Pat Sleator had taken up sculpture in the last five years and enjoyed some local success with an exhibition of a number of his works last year at County Hall in Wicklow.
"Pat could do anything with metal," said Fr Dillon. "He was very creative and there never appeared to be any problems at the house," he said.
"The community is absolutely distraught.
"The death of one person is devastating, but for three people to be lost magnifies that to an unbearable extent," said Fr Dillon.
The bodies were removed from the house late last night and taken to the city morgue in Dublin where a full post mortem examination will be carried out later today.
- Dara deFaoite
