Murder grudge probe in mum patio horror

Gardai are to delve into the background of murdered mother Celine Cawley in an attempt to find the reason for her savage murder.

Officers are to examine details of 46-year-old Ms Cawley's business, financial and social life, to establish if anybody had a grudge against her.

The inquiries will form part of an intensive investigation as detectives hunt for clues to the identity of the masked intruder her husband says he saw leaving their Howth home on Monday morning.

Officers insisted last night they were keeping an open mind on the investigation, as a post-mortem examination concluded Ms Cawley died as a result of extensive head injuries.

Gardai are awaiting the outcome of forensic tests on a number of items taken by members of the garda technical bureau from the house, 'Rowan Hill', at Windgate Road, in the north Dublin seaside village.

These include a brick which gardai believe was used in the savage attack when the victim was struck on the head as she attempted to ward off her assailant on the rear patio of the house.

Bloodstains on the brick, which gardai recovered near the body, are being matched up with a sample of Ms Cawley's blood.

Gardai are satisfied, from an initial examination of the scene, that Ms Cawley put up a frantic fight and believe she inflicted some injuries on the attacker.

Forensic tests are expected to show if DNA samples taken from her fingernails can help identify the killer.

Fingerprint checks on all accesses to the house have also been carried out. Gardai said there was no evidence of a forced entry and no indication that a robbery might have been the motive for the vicious attack.

A number of local people were interviewed by gardai yesterday as a result of the response to their appeal for help in finding out the movements of the intruder; but officers said nothing significant had emerged so far.

A lengthy search of the area at the rear of the house was conducted yesterday as gardai retraced the escape route which Ms Cawley's husband, Eamon Lillis, said the intruder had used as he left the house.

Mr Lillis told the gardai he confronted the intruder when he returned from walking his dog and had sustained minor marks to his head as a result.

Appealed

Gardai have appealed to anybody who might have been walking in the area, or driving along nearby Carrickbrack Road, and spotted anybody either carrying or wearing a balaclava helmet near the house to contact them at Clontarf station.

Ms Cawley's film production company, Toytown Films, was shut yesterday as a mark of respect.

Gardai are expected to examine Ms Cawley's business as well as social contacts in their hunt for clues to the murder motive and will be focusing in particular on anybody who might have had a falling out with her in recent months.

Officers said the attack did not appear to have been planned and looked like a "spur-of-the-moment" incident which could have taken place either when Ms Cawley interrupted the intruder as he searched through the house, or else when she had identified the attacker.

Detectives are expected to carry out more detailed interviews with members of Ms Cawley's family and colleagues after her funeral. The couple's 16-year-old daughter Georgia was being comforted last night in a relative's house.

A special team of detectives from the national bureau of criminal investigation is backing up local gardai in the murder investigation.