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Mikolaj “Nick” Wilk with his wife Elzbieta.
Cork
Gardaí believe machete killers are Irish as they renew appeal for information over murder
Gardaí are looking to speak to taxi drivers operating in the local area on the night of Mikolaj “Nick” Wilk’s murder.
LAST UPDATE | Jun 13th 2018, 10:40 AM
GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING THE murder of a father-of-two at his home in Cork over the weekend believe he was killed by four Irish men as they continue to attempt to understand the motive for the savage attack.
The men entered the house in a rural area of Ballincollig, Cork, on Sunday morning and attacked Mikolaj “Nick” Wilk (35) for up to 10 minutes with machetes. His wife Elzbieta tried to protect her husband and ended up receiving serious injuries to her arms and hands. She is recovering at Cork University Hospital.
Sources have told TheJournal.ie that gardaí are attempting to piece together what motive could exist for why the hard-working father-of-two was killed in such a violent manner. Seasoned gardaí have said that the crime scene was one of the worst they had seen in years on the force.
Since the murder, gardaí have been checking routes out of the jurisdiction for those they consider potential suspects in the crime. They, however, found nobody to fit that profile.
As things stand, gardaí believe the killers are local and that they are still in Ireland.
Officers have ruled out burglary because nothing was stolen from the premises. They have also found nothing to suggest the deceased was connected with any form of criminality.
Sources have said this leaves very little other than there was a personal reason for his murder or he had fallen out with a dangerous person in the course of his work.
Renewed appeal
Wilk owned his own gardening business. Gardaí will now speak to anyone he conducted business within the past six months.
Gardaí have also accessed his social media profiles, as well as his phone records to check if there could have been a personal reason for the attack.
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.
Gardaí have this morning renewed their appeal in relation to the murder.
Speaking at Gurranabraher Garda Station, Superintendent Colm O’Sullivan said: “We are continuing to appeal to anyone with information or to anyone who may have witnessed this incident.”
A number of people have come forward with information and O’Sullivan thanks the public for their assistance in the investigation thus far.
“However, we are aware of a number of taxis and hackneys that were operating in the Maglin, Ballincollig, Ballinora and Waterfall areas on the night of the incident who have not come forward,” he said.
“I would appeal to them to contact us at Gurranbraher Garda Station on 021 494 6200, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any garda station. Any information they may have, no matter how insignificant would assist our investigation.”
With reporting by Hayley Halpin.
