APPEAL OVER CHRISTY MURDER TIP-OFF CALL; Mystery 999 source must come forward.

Byline: BY SENAN HOGAN

GARDAI probing the brutal murder of an elderly horse trader were last night trying to trace a caller who tipped off officers about the killing.

The body of Christy Hanley, 83, was found at his home in Kilbeggan, Co Westmeath, at around 10am on Thursday. Investigating officer Superintendent Aidan Glackin, of Tullamore Garda station, told RTE Radio yesterday: "I appeal to that person who made that call, who may have a level of intimacy of what may happened or have some knowledge of what events took place in Kilbeggan on Wednesday evening.

"Obviously the person who made that call did it out of concern for the welfare for Christy Hanley.

"I'd ask that person, or somebody who knows that person, to make that information available to the gardai by any means, in the strictest confidence."

Mr Hanley, who lived alone, bred and traded horses locally. He was well known for his roulette wheel on street stalls at race meetings and town fairs around the country.

Gardai are investigating several lines of inquiry as part of their investigation.

Mr Hanley was last seen alive at around 5pm on Wednesday.

Supt Glackin added: "We're very interested in speaking to anybody who had seen him or was in his company.

"So far we have had a marvellous response from Kilbeggan and the wider area."

The inquiry is being carried out by local gardai, detectives and specialist forensic officers.

Supt Glackin refused to confirm whether Mr Hanley was robbed.

He added: "It is early in the investigation. We're looking at every possible avenue. We're going to analyse and evaluate every piece of information."

Kilbeggan's main street was closed for several hours as the house and surrounding area were examined by forensic officers.

A postmortem revealed Mr Hanley had suffered a number of injuries.

CAPTION(S):

SHOCK Mirror breaks story yesterday; KILLED Horse trader Christy Hanley was found dead at home; HORROR Body is removed