It was still bright on the evening of September 2, 2016 when a man walking his dogs made a gruesome discovery in Rahin Woods, close to Carbury in County Kildare.
Using a stick, he had poked at the ground and the brambles where his dog 'Bobby' had circled, only to see a foot protruding from the undergrowth.
Later, forensic experts would surmise that 24-year-old Philip Finnegan had died where he lay in the foetal position, his remains decapitated and charred from an attempt to burn his body. He’d been stabbed to death in a frenzied attack.
His murder and torture, gardai would later tell a court, happened the previous August 10 and his remains had gone undiscovered in the shallow grave until that September night.
So, who was Philip Finnegan and how did he come to such a brutal end at the hands of his one time friend Stephen Penrose. What happened in Rahin Woods and how did a gangland feud end in such a remote place?
Nicola Tallant chatds with Sunday World Deputy Editor Niall Donald about one of gangland's most brutal kills.
What effects has such violence on society, on families and on strangers who walk their dogs in lonely woods?
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