ROSE KILLER CAUGHT ON CCTV
Man tried to get ATM code as 78-year-old shopped
THE brutal killer of widow Rose Hanrahan has been identified on CCTV, the Irish Mirror can reveal.
Detectives spotted him stalking the pensioner in a supermarket and believe he was trying to get her ATM card passcode.
The 78-year-old widow was found strangled at her home in Thomondgate, Limerick, last month.
A source said: “Gardai were able to find Rose on CCTV shopping in the days before her murder.”
The suspect, believed to be Eastern European, fled to France.
GARDAI have spotted Rose Hanrahan’s killer on CCTV but fear he has left the country.
The killing shocked the nation after the 78-year-old was found strangled to death inside her home in the Thomondgate area of Limerick city on December 15.
Nearly 1,300 people have been spoken to as part of investigations and last night gardai revealed DNA had been uncovered which they believe belongs to the killer.
Detectives are now liaising with Interpol to find a match after the sample did not get a hit from the Irish database.
The suspect spotted on CCTV is believed to be Eastern European, possibly from Romania or Albania, and he fled to France soon after the killing.
The Irish Daily Mirror can reveal:
Gardai examining CCTV spotted Rose’s killer stalking her at a local supermarket
They believe the killer was after her ATM card passcode
He killed her when questioning got out of hand
Detectives have proof the killer left Ireland on a ferry bound for France, and
They are in contact with Europe-wide police forces as they hunt down the man.
A source said: “Gardai were able to find Rose in the days before on CCTV shopping in a local supermarket.
“While she was in this shop the suspect spotted her and tried to spy her passcode.
“His intention was to grab her card and take money out of her account but what happened was he murdered her.
“He never got her bank card – she had visited a relative and left her handbag behind at that house.
“The detectives were able to spot the man in the supermarket, follow his movements and then see him in the area around Rose’s home.
“They then tracked him to Rosslare where he boarded a ferry to France.”
Gardai have asked other police forces to target the man and get a sample of his DNA.
Officers had a long list of suspects, some of whom were identified by informants within the Limerick criminal scene.
But it has transpired the answer was in the CCTV cameras that surrounded Limerick businesses and streets.
A source added: “This was totally random – he was spotted inside the shop and he followed her thinking she was a vulnerable
woman. “He killed her, more than likely, for no other reason than he got carried away. “A simple burglary could have meant that the resources would not have been available to prosecute an investigation. Now there is a Europe-wide hunt for him – hopefully police will find him.”