THE partner of Northern Ireland con woman Julia Holmes was laid to rest yesterday without her by his side.
The badly decomposed bodies of the 63-year-old serial fraudster and Thomas Ruttle (56) were discovered lying beside each other on a bed in their farmhouse near Askeaton in Co Limerick last month.
Garda?? are awaiting toxicology reports to determine if the couple died after ingesting poison or inhaling carbon monoxide fumes as part of a suicide pact.
In the days following the discovery it emerged that Holmes, who was wanted by the PSNI on fraud charges and had convictions in Northern Ireland and the United States, had written to a Belfast legal firm asking to be buried with Mr Ruttle in his family???s cemetery plot.
However, the father-of-two, was laid to rest yesterday beside his parents, Billy and Nellie, while Holmes???s body remained unclaimed in the morgue at Limerick University Hospital.
It is expected that the Co Limerick coroner, Brendan Nix, will request that the state fund Holmes???s funeral as both Mr Ruttle???s family and her estranged Co Down-based son Paul (43) have refused to be involved in arrangements.
Reverend Keith Scott yesterday told mourners at St Mary???s Church of Ireland in Askeaton that the funeral was taking place during a ???very difficult and sad??? period for the Ruttle family.
???This time of grief is not made any easier because of the strangeness of the events which lead up to Thomas??? death,??? he said, adding that people???s ???first priority??? should be the Ruttle family, including the dead man???s sons, Ian and Kelvin, from a previous relationship.
Mr Ruttle, a mechanic, has been described by neighbours as quiet and unassuming while local beekeepers have said he was very popular with a passion for beekeeping.
It is believed that until the final weeks of his life, he had been unaware of Holmes???s trail of victims. He had met the two-time bigamist in 2011 after she had fled to the Republic while on the run from the PSNI.
