A €10,000 reward has been offered this week for information leading to the conviction of the murderer who stabbed a young Claregalway man to death in the city centre last month.
The reward, offered in conjunction with Crimestoppers, is part of a nationwide appeal for information on the whereabouts of a man gardaí believe is crucial to their investigation. Alexander Nadwodny (27 ), a Polish national who lived in Galway for three and a half years, is understood to have left the city in the wake of the killing.
Kieran Cunningham (20 ) died after being stabbed in an unprovoked attack in Williamsgate Street in the early hours of June 3 last. The popular Claregalway native had been enjoying a night out with friends when the attack occurred.
Gardaí spoke to a young woman who was seen on CCTV footage with Mr Nadwodny in the area at the time of the assault. While this woman has spoken to gardaí as a witness there has been no sign of Mr Nadwodny since the killing.
“Alexander Nadwodny was here in Galway for three and a half years,” Superintendent Tom Curley said at the launch of the nationwide appeal this week. “He has left since the crime happened. It’s essential to make progress in the investigation to make contact with this man. I am not going to go into detail but I am confident that we will be able to progress the investigation if we locate him.”
Gardaí handed out leaflets and posters in English, Polish, and Lithuanian in the city centre on Tuesday as the appeal got under way. The leaflets, which ask anyone with information on Mr Nadwodny’s whereabouts to contact the gardaí or Crimestoppers, are to be distributed throughout the country.
Superintendent Curley said this week that the gardaí have been in contact with the Polish police force and other forces in Europe through Interpol, though it is not known whether Mr Nadwodny has left the country.
“We are hoping we will get a response from the public, and from the Polish community, who have been very co-operative with us,” he added. “We have been working closely with the Polish community. We are in contact with the Polish police. We have been in contact with many European forces through Interpol and will continue to do so.”
Supt Curley confirmed that the attack appears to have been motiveless.
“Kieran was out socialising with his friends,” he said. “He had left a local nightclub and was standing minding his own business when he was attacked and murdered.”
Mr Cunningham’s uncle, Martin Cunningham, who spoke on behalf of the family at the launch said the family were “destroyed” by the young man’s death and branded his killer as “sub-human”.
“The family are in bits,” he said. “They can’t face this. They can’t face day to day living. You can’t imagine this until you go through it yourself.
“If you knew Kieran and knew the type of chap he was you’d love him. He had a permanent smile. It makes it all the more unbearable what happened to him.
“Kieran didn’t look for trouble. Nothing happened that night to suggest that anything like this would happen. There was no argument. It was just a random act of insanity.
“It would be some kind of solace for the family if they could get some kind of closure for this. Someone has to know where this person is. There’s no reason to protect this person. He’s really sub-human to have done this to another human being for no reason.”
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Alexander Nadwodny should contact Crimestoppers at Freephone 1800 25 00 25, or Galway Garda Station at (091 ) 538070/538000. All calls will be dealt with in the strictest confidence.
