Back in early April we did a story about a Tipperary-born man who was gunned down in a restaurant in Florida which he was managing. As it turns out the police have tracked down the man responsible and discovered he has committed suicide. The Police in the US investigating the murder of Tom Walsh believe he had been gunned down by a disgruntled former employee he fired two years ago.
Mr Walsh (43) a father of one from Templemore, lost his life in March when he was shot dead as he was closing up the restaurant he managed near Daytona Beach in Florida.
It was initially thought he was killed during a robbery as the night’s profits were taken from the premises, but now police believe that a double suicide last Thursday may hold links to the murder of the popular Tipperary man.
James Seagreaves (29) and his girlfriend Kayla Nemoto (20) died after apparently committing suicide following a shoot out with police.
Seagreaves had been released from jail in early March and is believes to have carried out a spate of armed robberies in Florida in the 29 days after leaving prison, including the one at the Mainstreet Grill where Walsh was murdered.
However, it has now emerged that he was known to Walsh, who had fired him two years ago from the same restaurant and that Seagreaves held a grudge over the incident.
Police went to Seagraves home last Thursday to serve a warrant in connection with Walsh’s murder, but Seagreaves and his 20-year-old girlfriend, who was said to be pregnant with a baby girl, barricaded themselves into their apartment.
After a stand-off of a number of hours where negotiators tried to persuade the couple to surrender, a SWAT team were sent in and discovered the pair dead inside.
Police would not released details of how they met their deaths, but it is believed that they died from gunshot wounds to the head, and that the baby Nemoto was carrying did not survive.
