Police turn to mobile companies to find John’s killer
MOBILE phone companies are helping track the phone stolen from charity worker John Curran, the Irishman brutally murdered in South Africa this week.
The detective leading the investigation said this could help throw light on the movements of the phone before and after the father of four was killed.
Captain Ezra October, of the South Africa Police Service, also said that a post-mortem is expected to be carried out on Monday.
Charity worker Mr Curran, who was due to return home for Christmas, was stabbed to death in a ‘gruesome’ murder. The 60-yearold was found dead at his apartment in Cape Town in the early hours of Wednesday. The retired teacher, who had been working with the Mellon Educate Centre for the past two years, is believed to have been stabbed up to 20 times.
A sources close to the investigation said: ‘This was very gruesome and appears to be crazed attack on this Irishman who was well regarded in the local community.’
It is thought, at this early stage of the investigation, that Mr Curran – whose son Eoin died tragically in New York in 2010 – was murdered for his mobile phone.
Captain October told the Mail last night: ‘The post-mortem will most probably take place on Monday. ‘There have been no arrests yet. ‘We are trying to track his phone because his phone is one thing that is missing and we are being assisted by the service providers.
‘Detectives are also analysing CCTV footage. They are waiting for the post-mortem before they make their next move.’
Asked if there were any signs of a forced entry, he replied: ‘So far there are no signs of forced entry.’
And when asked if he thought Mr Curran could have been murdered by someone who knew him, he said: ‘We don’t know at this stage. We are doing all of those kind of investigations that is why they are analysing the video footage.’
The Irish Daily Mail believes police in Cape Town suspect Mr Curran may have been followed home from the shops the night he died. They suspect the assailant waited for Mr Curran to go to sleep before gaining entry to the apartment through a window.