Josephine Ray murder: Number of arrests made just hours after funeral

Gardaí investigating the murder of Josephine ‘Josie’ Ray (89) in Co Tipperary last weekend have made a number of arrests in the last hour, The Irish Times has learned.

Ms Ray, a mother of five, was found dead at her home in St Joseph’s Park in Nenagh at around midday last Sunday when a family member called to check on her.

Ms Ray was found in a bedroom of the house and gardaí immediately cordoned off the scene and requested the services of the State Pathologist’s Office.

A postmortem on Ms Ray’s body by Deputy State Pathologist, Dr Yvonne McCartney, on Monday confirmed that Ms Ray had died from asphyxiation and gardaí opened a murder inquiry.

Today’s arrests come just hours after Ms Ray was buried at Killodiernan Cemetery following her funeral mass at St Mary of the Rosary Church in Nenagh this morning.