Updated 19.00
TWO PEOPLE have been charged with the murder of 27-year-old Jonathan Duke during a special sitting of Bandon District Court this evening.
The two had earlier been arrested in connection with Duke’s death, whose body was found in the River Bandon in west Cork on Sunday night and whose death was subsequently classed as murder.
Father-of-one Duke’s body was recovered from the river shortly after 11pm on Sunday night after locals raised the alarm.
The man and a woman were arrested a short time later in an apartment block in the town and were in garda custody today.
A post mortem was carried out by the Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster at Cork University Hospital yesterday where it was confirmed that Duke had suffered a violent death.
Gardaí have confirmed this morning that they are now treating the death as murder.
A second body was reported to have been found in the River Bandon this morning.
Meanwhile the Irish Times reports that gardaí are increasingly concerned for the safety of an Englishman in his 40s who disappeared after drinking in the same flat where its believed Duke was involved in a row prior to his death.
Speaking to RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, local garda superintendent Eddie McKeown said that around 30 to 40 gardaí were involved in the investigation.
They are particularly keen to speak to anyone who may have seen or heard from Jonathan over the weekend specifically anytime on Sunday after 2pm up until the discovery of his body later that night.
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