Gardai believe a man may have been knifed to death at a house in Wicklow in a drink-fuelled row.
The victim, named locally as Juris Viktorovs and originally from Lithuania, was stabbed a number of times at the property in Ballyconnell in Wicklow, on Thursday evening at around 8.15pm.
Gardai attached to the murder probe believe there was a gathering with a number of people present there.
The house is lived in by the victim’s partner, who is local to the area.
There was an altercation and when the situation escalated Mr Viktorovs, 36, was stabbed. A source said: “Gardai are looking to establish what exactly happened.
“It’s early in the investigation but this man was stabbed a number of times and suffered a shocking death.”
The alarm was raised on Thursday night but by the time gardai had arrived, Mr Viktorovs was dead.
Gardai arrested a Latvian man in his 30s and a woman in her 20s at the scene.
They remained in custody last night as the Garda inquiry continued.
The scene of the suspected murder is on the Wicklow border with Carlow.
Mr Viktorovs lived in Tullow, just a short few minutes away, for some time. He had been in a relationship with the woman who occupies the house where he was killed since October of last year.
Locals did not know the victim of the attack but said it was totally uncharacteristic of the area.
One woman said: “It’s very sad. I wouldn’t know the man and I don’t think anyone around [here] does really. But it’s just really shocking that it happened.
“I only realised after 9pm on Thursday night when I looked out the window and saw the blue lights.”
Cllr Vincent Blake echoed how those in the small community were feeling. He said: “Shock is the first word that comes to mind in regards to what happened here.
“People here just talk about sport, the local school here, the church and so forth is what comes to people’s minds, not something of this nature, so really it’s a tragedy.”
Yesterday, a technical examination of the scene took place and the body was removed from the scene just after 2pm.
Gardai in Baltinglass are appealing for anyone who may have seen unusual activity in the Ballyconnell area on Thursday evening to get in touch.
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