Mystery surrounds death of man whose decomposed body was found in River Liffey, inquest hears
Seán McCárthaigh
An inquest has heard that a mystery still surrounds the circumstances of how a homeless man whose badly decomposed body was recovered from near the mouth of the River Liffey last year entered the water.
Landry Zanga (36), a father of two of no fixed abode but originally from MacUilliam Avenue, Fortunestown, Tallaght, was pronounced dead on January 15th, 2025.
A sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court heard Mr Zanga’s body had been discovered by the crew of a Dublin Port vessel carrying out maintenance work near the entrance to Dublin Bay.
The body of the then unknown male was recovered from the water by a Dublin Fire Bridgade crew who brought it to the pontoon located by the Jeanie Johnson famine ship on North Wall Quay.
Garda David Molloy said the badly decomposed state of the body indicated it had been in the water for some time, possible for a period of several weeks.
However, Garda Molloy said there were no apparent fractures or injuries on the body.
The inquest heard that DNA samples were taken from the remains and sent to Forensic Science Ireland to assist with the identification of the body.
The coroner, Cróna Gallagher, said a match was found on a DNA database as Mr Zanga had previous interaction with gardaí.
Garda Molloy said the investigation could not establish when Mr Zanga was last seen alive.
In reply to questions from the coroner, he said gardaí had examined footage from CCTV cameras along the River Liffey but were hampered in their investigation by not knowing when or where the deceased had entered the water.
The witness explained that most CCTV systems only retained footage for a four-week period.
“It was like looking for a needle in a haystack unfortunately,” he remarked.
Relatives of the deceased, who attended the hearing, said they had not seen him for almost a year.
They outlined how he had been living in Cork at one stage but understood he had subsequently been staying in hostels in Dublin.
The inquest heard that Mr Zanga had been staying in the Isaac’s hostel on Frenchman’s Lane in the north inner city.
Dr Gallagher expressed surprise at being informed by Garda Molloy that the hostel was unable to provide any information about the deceased staying there as it only kept records for eight weeks.
However, the witness was able to confirm that no belongings of Mr Zanga had been left at the hostel.
Garda Molloy said checks were also made but they had received no information as to whether Mr Zanga had been in receipt of social welfare payments.
The coroner said a postmortem had found no evidence to suggest that the deceased had suffered any trauma that might have been inflicted by a third party before his death.
Gallagher said a toxicology report found “not particularly high” levels of alcohol, cocaine, Xanax and a sleeping pill in his system.
However, she observed that the combined effect of such stimulants could have caused a sudden cardiac arrest and might have contributed to his death.
The coroner noted that the pathologist who carried out the postmortem had concluded that the cause of death could not be ascertained.
Gallagher said it could not be determined if Mr Zanga was dead or not before entering the water., while the cause of death could be drowning or drug toxicity.
She also remarked that there was no evidence to suggest that the deceased wanted to end his life.
However, she added: “There is a lot that can’t be established. We simply don’t know how he entered the water.”
Recording an open verdict, Dr Gallagher offered her condolences to Zanga’s family.
“It’s a very tragic case. I’m sure you were shocked at the news that his body was found,” the coroner said, adding that she hoped it would put their minds at rest “on one level.”
