GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the murder of a man whose remains were found in a ditch a week after he disappeared have arrested a man.
The 39-year-old is being questioned about the murder of Adil Essalhi (29), who had a last-known address in Drumcondra, north Dublin.
The father-of-four was at a party in a house in west Dublin last Thursday, January 6th, when he disappeared. Gardaí believe alcohol and drugs were taken at the party and that a fight broke out, during which Mr Essalhi, who is of Middle Eastern extraction, was stabbed by a man known to him.
Gardaí believe the body was then taken from the house and that efforts were made to burn the remains before they were dumped in a ditch on waste ground at Bellgree Avenue, Tyrrelstown, west Dublin.
Gardaí received intelligence from a criminal source suggesting how the killing had taken place and where the remains were disposed of. A Garda team had been searching waste ground around Tyrrelstown since Monday and on Thursday afternoon they found the body.
A postmortem has concluded that Mr Essalhi, a convicted criminal and suspected small-time drug dealer, had been stabbed to death. Gardaí believe he was stabbed at a house not far from the scene where the body was found.
The man being questioned last night is well-known to gardaí in Dublin, in both the west and north of the city, and has a number of convictions for extreme violence.
