In December of 1997, 53 year old bachelor farmer Tom Clisham was found dead in his cottage in Galway. He hadn't been seen in some time, and his body was in such a bad state no visual identification could be made.

It seemed some sort of fight had occurred in his home - but over what, Gardai had no clue.

Who killed Tom Clisham?

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Additional Music: Allemande (Sting) by Wahneta Meixsell. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

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Sources:

“Murder probe as body found mutilated by dogs in home” in The Evening Herald (5 December 1997) p. 6.

Kevin Moore, “West awakening to a brutal new reality” in The Sunday Independent (7 December 1997) p. 6.

“Nephew up on harm charge” in The Irish Independent(9 December 1997) p. 7.

“Farm accused refused bail” in The Irish Independent(16 December 1997) p. 7.

“No bail for man linked to dead farmer” in The Irish Independent (20 December 1997) p. 6.

Brian MacDonald, “Judge protests at lack of aid for prisoner” in The Irish Independent (6 January 1998) p. 4.

John Kilraine, “New charges over killing” in The Irish Independent (30 January 1998) p. 8.

“Charged with uncle’s murder” in The Evening Herald(18 March 1998) p. 17.

Ray Managh, “Murder threat to witness, court told” in The Irish Independent (9 April 1998) p. 13.

Rita O’Reilly, “Murder trial told of violent assault inside remote house” in The Irish Independent (20 January 1999) p. 6

Rita O’Reilly, “Victim ‘too mutilated for identification’” in The Irish Independent (21 January 1999) p. 7

“Nephew ‘prodded deceased in neck with broken bottle’” in The Irish Independent (22 January 1999) p. 10.

Rita O’Reilly, ‘Murder accused threatened to kill me, says witness” in The Irish Independent (23 January 1999) p. 4.

“Witness denies changing story” in The Irish Independent(26 January 1999) p. 6.

Rita O’Reilly, “Dole not collected for weeks, murder trial told” in The Irish Independent (27 January 1999) p 6.

Rita O’Reilly, “Pathologist says tied-up corpse was strangled” in The Irish Independent (28 January 1999) p. 6.

“Jury absent for legal discussion” in The Irish Times(29 January 1999) p. 6.

“Legal arguments in murder trial” in The Irish Times(3 February 1999) p. 4.

“Man accused of murdering uncle said he could not remember killing, jury told” in The Irish Times (5 February 1999) p. 4.

Suzanne MacManus, “Body eaten by animals, murder trial told” in The Irish Independent (6 February 1999) p. 16

“man denies having sex with uncle he is accused of killing” in The Irish Times (9 February 1999) p. 4.

Suzanne MacManus, “Whiskey ‘turns accused into monster’” in The Irish Independent (9 February 1999) p. 5.

Stephen Ross, “Sex crime claim at murder trial” in The Evening Herald (9 February 1999) p. 12

“Man accused of murder was told it was a sexual crime, defence claims” in The Irish Times (10 February 1999) p. 4.

“Murder accused ‘told he was gay’ jury hears” in The Irish Independent (10 February 1999) p. 4

Suzanne MacManus, “Accused ‘admitted murder to garda” in The Evening Herald (11 February 1999) p. 9

Rita O’Reilly, “Body probably farmer, tests show” in The Irish Independent (11 February 1999) p. 4.

“Blood on body ‘link to accused’” in The Irish Independent (12 February 1999) p. 4

Suzanne McManus, “Murder accused ‘left mark on wall’” in The Irish Independent (13 February 1999) p. 7.

“Publican says he saw murder victim in bar” in The Irish Times (16 February 1999) p. 4.

Suzanne MacManus, “Garda ‘made me alter statement’” in The Irish Independent (17 February 1999) p. 4

“Woman tells trial of being asked to change statement” in The Irish Times (17 February 1999) p. 18.

“Witness in murder trial a ‘liar’ says defence” in The Irish Times (19 February 1999) p. 11.

Suzanne MacManus, “Jury clears man accused of murdering his uncle” in The Irish Independent (20 February 1999) p. 4.

Cathal O’Shea, “I had nothing to do with my pal Tom’s murder” in The Sunday World (28 February 1999) p.p. 10-11

Damien Lane, “A jury found me innocent but people at home still think I killed Uncle Tom” in The Sunday World (22 August 1999) p. 8-9

Brian McDonald, “’Witness coerced’ claim is scurrilous says garda” in The Irish Independent (12 February 2000) p. 7