ON SUNDAY 10 June, Mikolaj Wilk was at his home in Ballincollig with his wife and two children. 

As the family slept, four men kicked down Wilk’s front door and subjected him to a brutal 10-minute assault with what gardaí believe was a machete. 

His wife Elzbieta suffered serious slash wounds to her arms and hands as she tried to fend off her attackers. 

Wilk was rushed to hospital but died from his injuries. Gardaí who attended the scene were given counselling due to the gruesome nature of the site. 

Officers investigating the murder are now working with three other European police forces as they attempt to trace the murder suspects. 

Latvian, Polish and Lithuanian police are all attempting to trace those who gardaí believe killed the popular landscape gardener. 

Sources familiar with the investigation told TheJournal.ie that the investigation is still very much active and that gardaí hope to travel across to the Eastern European countries in the New Year to continue the investigation. 

Wilk was known as a friendly, hard-working man who had his own gardening business in Cork. There was no immediate known motive for the attack.

Gardaí accessed his social media profiles, as well as his phone records, to check if there could have been a personal reason for the attack. They found nothing. But officers now believe a debt of some sort was owed to a serious Eastern European gang and that Wilk’s murder was ordered by this gang’s bosses. 

Detectives believe the nature of the murder – a sustained attack with machetes for up to 10 minutes – indicates that the reason behind the killing was personal. Gardaí also recovered a gun from a car which was burnt out close to the murder scene.

The fact the men had access to a firearm and decided not to use it is more evidence for gardaí, albeit circumstantial, that there was a personal motive for the case.

Evidence gathered by detectives is too circumstantial to allow for the issue of a European Arrest Warrant. Gardaí believe there is someone out there who has the information required to get the warrants for the killers issued. 

Gardaí in Cork appealed for information on the murder. 

Superintendent Colm O’Sullivan said: “We are continuing to appeal to anyone with information or to anyone who may have witnessed this incident, [including] any drivers who may have dash cam footage and travelled in the Maglin, Ballincollig, Ballinora and Waterfall areas between 2am and 5am on 10 June 2018.

“If anyone noticed any suspicious or unusual activities in these areas in the days leading up to the incident, contact Gurranabraher Garda Station on 021- 4946200, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any garda station.”