Mary Ward: murder investigation being led by Republic

Ms Ward died from a number of wounds to her neck, BBC News NI understands.

Her body was found by police officers who went to her house on Tuesday 1 October – but it is believed she was killed on or around 25 September.

The PSNI had been in contact with her on a number of occasions in the previous weeks.

This began on 4 September when she made a complaint to the police about being the victim of violence.

Providing details of the timeline of events, Ass Ch Cons Beck confirmed on Wednesday that police had a phone call with Ms Ward on 10 September.

He said officers attempted to speak to her on 24 September and spoke to her by phone on 25 September. This was the last contact police had with her.

Officers attended the property regarding an unrelated matter on 1 October, he said.

“That’s when we observed a female crouched over against the upstairs front window of that house and located Mary deceased unfortunately within the property,” Ass Ch Cons Beck said.

Police believe Ms Ward was last seen alive on 25 September.

Speaking on Wednesday, Ass Ch Cons David Beck said he was “absolutely appalled” that there had been another murder of a woman in Northern Ireland.

He said: “Too many women are losing their lives at the hands of men”.