TRAGEDY OF DAD BEATEN TO DEATH & SON'S SUICIDE

AN INQUEST into the suspected murder-suicide of a father and son days before Christmas has found 88-year-old Daniel Duffy died of blunt-force head injuries while his son Damien died by suicide.

- BY STEPHEN MAGUIRE

The pair were both found dead at the Co Donegal bungalow they shared.

A jury ruled that injuries to the pensioner's head and neck were inflicted by someone else.

It also decided that 50-year-old Damien Duffy, who was found in a car next to a petrol leaf-blower, died by suicide from carbon monoxide poisoning.

The tragedy shattered the pair's extended family when their bodies were discovered in their home in Windyhall on the outskirts of Letterkenny in December 2021.

An inquest yesterday heard how a care worker was the first to raise the alarm.

HSE care assistant Bridgeen Doherty called to the home around 10.30am. The front door was unlocked and she called out into the bedroom to check on Daniel Duffy.