Walkers discover dismembered body in suitcase at Kildare canal

GARDAÍ have launched an investigation after a dismembered body was found stuffed in a suitcase at a Co. Kildare canal yesterday.

The shocking discovery was made in Ardclough village at 3.30pm.

A number of people walking along the Grand Canal saw what was described by gardaí as a ‘container’.

The walkers opened it and were horrified to discover a body. They immediately contacted gardaí.

The suitcase had been lying there for an unknown length of time.

Last night, the scene was being preserved pending a technical examination.

The body remained at the scene.

The Office of the State Pathologist had also been notified. However a pathologist was not arriving until today.

A Garda spokesman said: ‘The scene is currently preserved pending a technical examination and the body remains at the scene. The Office of the State Pathologist has been notified.’

Sources last night suggested that the victim might have been involved in a dispute with a drugs gang over a relatively small amount of money.

That this may have formed the motive for the person’s gruesome death is now a line of inquiry for investigating officers.

It is not the first time that bodies have been found discarded in a suitcase.

In 2005, Charlotte and Linda Mulhall – who became known as the Scissor Sisters – killed their mother’s African boyfriend Farah Noor.

They chopped up the 38-year-old’s body, before dumping his headless remains in the Royal Canal at Ballybough. The victim’s head and penis have never been found.

A year later, Charlotte was jailed for life while her older sister got 15 years for manslaughter.