GARDAÍ are investigating whether the discovery of woman’s body in her Co Louth home is linked to the death of a man in a fatal head-on motorway collision.
The dead woman, who was in her sixties, was found by a relative at a house in Rathmore, near the border village of Hackballscross, at around 3.45pm yesterday.
Less than two hours earlier, a male driver in his seventies, named locally last night as Jim Quigley, died in a head-on crash on the M1.
Gardaí are investigating whether the deaths were a murder/suicide.
It is understood that the woman, who was found in an upstairs bedroom in the house, had suffered serious head injuries before her death.
It is thought that gardaí became aware of her death when they called to the address that was registered to the car of the dead man.
The house was sealed off last night.
Gardaí launched a probe into whether the grim discovery in Rathmore was connected to the earlier fatal crash on the northbound M1 motorway between Junction 14 and 15.
They believe that the man, killed in a collision between a truck and two cars at around 2pm, may have been suicidal.
The man, the only occupant of one of the cars, is understood to have been driving in the wrong direction on the northbound side of the motorway.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver and two passengers in the second car were taken to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda. Their injuries were not thought to be life-threatening.
The M1 was closed for several hours to allow a forensic examination to take place.
Gardaí last night appealed for witnesses to the crash to contact Ardee Garda Station.
Louth TD, Sinn Féin's Gerry Adams, expressed his sympathy to the families of the dead man and woman.
"My thoughts are with all those affected at this sad time," he said.
Three years ago, a suicidal Polish taxi driver left three members of one Irish family dead in a head-on crash.
Father-of-two Marek Wojciechowski wrote a four-page suicide note before driving on the wrong side of the road and smashing into the car of the Cork-based Twomey family in Devon in July 2012.
Mr Wojciechowski, whose marriage was breaking down, died at the scene as well as 16-month-old Oisin Twomey, who had been holiday with his father and pregnant mother.
Con Twomey (39) died 10 months later in hospital after suffering horrific head injuries while his wife Elber, the sole survivor, lost the couple’s unborn daughter, Elber Marie.
The case sent shockwaves throughout the UK and Ireland and sparked calls for changes in how British police dealt with suicidal drivers.
