Sister’s grief as gardaí wait to quiz Joanne’s husband
THE grief-stricken sister of murder victim Joanne Lee expressed her sadness and pain on social media last night as friends continued to offer their condolences to her.
Jennifer Ball revealed her ongoing heartbreak in a Facebook message as friends rallied to support her while gardaí try to work out Ms Lee’s last movements.
The body of Ms Lee (38) was found in dramatic circumstances last Thursday when gardaí broke into a flat in Ranelagh, Dublin, after being refused entry.
Ms Lee’s estranged husband Keith Lee, the main suspect in her murder, then jumped out of a third-floor window of the property, breaking his legs in the impact with the ground.
He then pulled out a Stanley blade and started cutting his arms.
Gardaí discovered the body of Ms Lee, wrapped in bed clothing and a sleeping bag, in the wardrobe. She also had a bag over her head.
She was so tightly wrapped that gardaí believe she was to be moved again.
A post-mortem examination found that Ms Lee had been killed by strangulation and was dead since at least last weekend.
Gardaí believe Mr Lee lived with his dead wife’s body in the wardrobe for at least 48 hours before he jumped from the window on Thursday afternoon.
Mr Lee is reported to have made certain admissions to gardaí before being taken to St James’s Hospital where he remains under armed guard while he receives treatment for his injuries.
The Irish Independent understands it may be some days before he will be quizzed about her murder.
Over the weekend, forensic teams continued their investigation at the property in Ranelagh Road where Ms Lee’s body was discovered.
It was also reported in the ‘Sunday World’ that Ms Lee’s marriage had broken down after she discovered her husband was having a drug-fuelled affair with an American woman.
A source revealed that detectives were attempting to trace an American woman with whom Mr Lee claimed he was having an affair.
It is believed Ms Lee discovered he was having the affair and had confronted him about it.
Gardaí believe Mr Lee’s life had descended into drugfuelled chaos.
Until relatively recently, Mr Lee had been working in a wellknown city-centre hotel, where he was a chef.
However, he had been drinking heavily, was no longer employed and is believed to have become involved in the drugs trade.
In November, he was arrested following an undercover drugs bust in a popular Temple Bar nightclub after being found in possession of cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine.
Mr Lee had not been on gardaí’s radar before the raid and, a source claimed, they were surprised at that amount of drugs recovered – estimated to be worth more than €11,000.
Last Tuesday, Mr Lee arrived in a city-centre Garda station and made a missing person’s report for Ms Lee.
At the weekend, Ms Ball posted five heartbroken emojis on her Facebook page.
Friends posted tributes to Ms Lee and messages of support for Ms Ball including one pal who described the situation as “devastating”. She posted: “Jen dont know wat to say it’s just devastating I’m thinkin of u an yr family xXx.”