'Poor daddy' - Family hit out over dad mysteriously found dead at back door

Tonight RTÉ Prime Time's Fran McNulty presents a special report on the death of Liam Farrell who was found dead outside his home in rural Ireland in 2020.

On January 11, 2020, 87-year-old Liam Farrell walked home along the N4 road in the village of Rooskey after an evening socialising locally. Fifteen hours later, Liam’s body was found outside his back door. He was badly bruised, partially undressed and lying on his back.

A post-mortem examination concluded Liam died from a heart attack, but Liam’s family remain convinced that there is more to their father’s death, citing injuries to various parts of Liam’s body, bloodied items in the house, and his missing wallet.

Speaking about seeing the circumstances of his father’s death, Liam’s son Brendan said: “I could understand, yes, a heart attack…but what about the injuries? And what caused the heart attack? What led to that? I mean, it was carnage… you didn’t have to be an expert to know that poor Daddy was attacked.”

At a subsequent inquest, the hospital pathologist, Professor Paul Hartel, carried out a post-mortem examination of Mr Farrell’s body, he revealed he had not been informed that Liam’s body had been removed from a potential crime scene.

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Professor Hartel testified that had he been aware of the circumstances, he would have refused to carry out the autopsy and insisted a forensic pathologist be assigned.

Frank Buttimer, solicitor for the Farrell family said: “Things went wrong from the moment when there was, for some unknown reason, a lack of communication between the scenes-of-crime guards or the senior guards who attended the scene. It was literally an opportunity that was missed to carry out a more comprehensive post-mortem assessment of the remains, one that would have established the presence of injuries and a likely causal connection between those injuries and a likely assault.”

As the sixth anniversary of Liam Farrell’s death approaches, his family’s grief is added to by the absence of answers.

For Liam’s brother Mel, time is of the essence he tells RTÉ Prime Time, "I’m 90 and I want to see him get the truth before I die. It would mean a lot to me to know before I die. Someone is holding back something, I think. I do," he added. "I think someone knows something and they won’t say it. They know, but they’re frightened of saying it."

You can watch the full report on Prime Time tonight, Thursday, September 11, at 9:35pm RTÉ One and RTÉ Player