JOHN George was stabbed before being shot dead, an autopsy carried out on the West Belfast man has confirmed.
John (37) was last heard from on December 14 and relatives reported him missing when the Twinbrook man failed to catch a scheduled flight home four days later. Following an extensive search, which involved his family, his body was discovered on January 7 around five miles from the town of Rojales near Torrevieja.
In a statement, his solicitor Kevin Winters said: "We can confirm the family has received an autopsy report from the Spanish authorities. The findings point to John having been stabbed before being shot.
"As a precautionary measure and in order to make sure we have absolute clarity on the cause of death, we have instructed another pathologist to conduct a second autopsy on John's remains.
"In the past few days, we have been liaising with the family together with the Coroner’s Office; the appointed pathologist and nominated Funeral Director on the logistics engaged in this very sensitive matter.
"It is hoped that the second autopsy will be completed at some stage early next week. In the interim, the family are encouraged by the latest development confirming the issuing of arrest warrants for a suspect in relation to John’s murder. They are hopeful that all engaged authorities will pursue implementation of the warrants in order to take the case to the next very important stage of the investigation."
Earlier this month, a 32-year-old man from the Czech Republic was bailed by a judge and told he was being investigated as an alleged accomplice over the murder.
