A woman has been arrested after an Irish grandfather was poisoned to death in a suspected murder in an African country.
Terry Martin Collins, 71, known as Ted, died in a suspected case of deadly malaria in Malawi, in South-Eastern Africa.
But family members were suspicious and they asked for an autopsy to be carried out - the results showed that ‘Ted’ had been poisoned.
Marie Cleary, his grand daughter, has appealed to Irish embassy authorities to help her family get justice for Ted.
She said: “Ted was a loving, caring man who didn’t deserve to die like he did he deserves justice and that’s what I am trying to get him.
“He was in Malawi because he wanted to help the local people, he had owned a coal and furniture business in Ballina and wanted to help the people.
“We are all devastated and want to find answers.”
Mr Collins died in April in Zomba, a city in the central area of the country and was brought home to his native Ballina, Co Mayo where he was buried in April.
The Irish Mirror contacted Dr Charles Dzamalala, a Forensic Pathologist who carried out a post mortem examination in May and determined that Ted was poisoned.
In recent days police in Zomba arrested a woman who they suspect was involved in the incident.
Dr Dzamalala told the Irish Mirror: “The autopsy found Mr Collins was poisoned which is an unnatural death.
“A woman has been arrested and has been remanded in custody. Police officers are investigating the incident.”
The autopsy report revealed: “The death was due to unnatural causes. It was due to acute poisoning called termik, a carbamate compound that is found in many hardware flee market shops, most commonly used for killing pests.
“Based on the circumstances surrounding this death, this incidence of acute poisoning is most probably due to a homicidal rather than a suicidal or an accidental act.”
It is understood that the Department of Foreign Affairs are providing counsellor assistance.
Malawi is one of the most impoverished countries in the world. Nearly 53 percent of its 15 million inhabitants live below the poverty line.
