A COUPLE arrested on suspicion of murdering an 89-year-old woman are now living in squalid conditions in a rat-infested hovel on the outskirts of Limerick City — a year after the woman’s death shocked a quiet Tipperary town.
Hasan Ali Gori and Mary Ray, both in their 50s, were found living in squalor in a wooded area on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by scurrying rats, rusting containers, and insect-ridden bedding.
The couple strongly deny any role in the death of Ms Ray’s mother, Josephine ‘Josie’ Ray, whose body was discovered in bed at her home in Nenagh on August 4, 2024.
The elderly woman was found with facial bruising and appeared to have been strangled.
“I have nothing to do with this death, how is somebody accusing me of murder,” said Mr Ali Gori when approached for comment.
“This is hatred, I feel it’s racist. I didn’t do anything to anybody.”
Mary Ray was also adamant, saying: “My mother loved me, she was mad about me, we lived together. It’s very hard for me, I miss her terrible, so much.”
The couple were arrested by Gardaí on the day of Josie Ray’s funeral and questioned in connection with the murder but were later released without charge. Months on from the great-grandmother’s death, Gardaí have said the “investigation is ongoing” and a file is to be forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Mary, who found her mother’s lifeless body, said she initially thought Josie was asleep.
“I got an awful fright,” she recalled. “Her glasses were off in the bed… I said, ‘Mother, get up for your tea.’ But she wasn’t moving. I said there’s something wrong with her. She must be dead.”
Josie Ray was remembered at her funeral by her granddaughter Rosie as a “true lady” who loved style, laughter, and dancing.
Mary and Hasan said they are homeless and too afraid to return to Nenagh, citing alleged threats and an assault on Ali Gori shortly after their release from Garda custody.
“We got attacked about my mother,” Mary said of a later incident at the wetlands camp. “They said, ‘You murdered your mother.’”
Mary Ray said she was in bed when her mother, who slept downstairs, died.
When asked how he felt when he discovered Josie was dead, Mr Ali Gori replied: “Well, there’s nobody feels happy or joy, no, it’s only to be sorry for the people that person died for.”
He said he was also mourning his own mother, who he said died after suffering the shock of being told he had been arrested on suspicion of murdering Josie.
Mary and Hasan offered that, prior to Josie Ray’s death, Hasan contacted an ambulance for the great-grandmother following an incident.
On another occasion, they said, they helped Josie up off the floor in her house after they heard a noise and found she had fallen off a chair and broken her hip.
Garda interactions with Josie at her home in the days before her death were referred to the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission, including a Garda response at her house following a report of a disturbance less than 24-hours prior to her body being found.
Ms Ray was reportedly alive when Gardaí called to her home on August 3 last year, during which time a number of persons were present at the home.
It’s reported that Gardaí had also been called to Josie’s home on several occasions during the months prior to her death to deal with a number of different alleged complaints.
‘The rats are everywhere’
Mary and Hasan’s current living conditions are dire. Surrounded by rodent burrows and rubbish, they boil soup, potatoes, and rice on a campfire and rely on the occasional help of church volunteers.
“The rats are everywhere,” said Mary, who said she is on a “slow learner” disability allowance. Mr Ali Gori, defiant, added: “I’m not afraid of the rats … They only look for food.”
Pointing to a nearby tunnel, he said: “See here, it’s a big rat house, this is a new one, they start fighting for food or whatever, it’s all rat houses here.”
Pulling back their tent flap to reveal a metal bar, he explained that he has a greater fear than rats: “It’s for protection because I don’t know the kind of people that come here.”
Their only hope, they said, lies in someone helping them find accommodation.
“We don’t have any hope of leaving here except the hope of getting a house,” Mr Ali Gori said.
‘It’s not safe to go back’
Rolling up their sleeves, they reveal itching red lumps on their arms, which they believe are insect bites.
Much like their cooking pot, their toiletries and clothes hanging from tree branches lay unprotected from the rats and insects crawling around.
They are not the only ones living among the rats, several tents have sprung up over the past few weeks and months.
Mr Ali Gori said he advised Mary a number of times to go back to Nenagh but, he argued, “Mary will follow me anywhere I go, Mary will not leave me.”
At the point Ms Ray interjected: “I can’t (return) though, I can’t stay at my house, it’s not safe to go back.”
For now, they remain in the wetlands — haunted by Josie Ray’s death, surrounded by vermin, and still under the shadow of suspicion.
