Yousef Palani, with an address in Co Sligo, is due to be handed a mandatory life sentence in October after admitting to the April 2022 murders of Aidan Moffitt, 41, and Michael Snee, 58.
Palani, 23, pleaded guilty today, Monday, July 31, at the Central Criminal Court to the murder of Moffitt at Cartron Heights in Co Sligo which occurred on April 10, 2022.
He also pleaded guilty to murdering Snee at City View, Connaughton Road in Co Sligo on April 12, 2022.
Palani additionally pleaded guilty to intentionally causing serious harm to another man, Anthony Burke, at Cleveragh Road in Co Sligo on April 9, 2022.
Palani had been due to go on trial on November 13, but he will now be sentenced to a mandatory life sentence on October 23 when victim impact evidence will also be heard.
Palani was charged on April 14, 2022 with the murders of Aidan Moffitt and Michael Snee, as well as the assault of Anthony Burke, all of which occurred in Co Sligo.
An angry crowd outside #Sligo courthouse as Yousef Palani is driven away, after being charged with murder pic.twitter.com/PdP9eyeu53
— Stephen Murphy (@SMurphyTV) April 14, 2022
Moffitt's body was discovered in his home on Monday, April 11, while Snee's body was discovered in his home on Tuesday, April 12.
Both of the men had been subject to "serious physical assault and had suffered significant injuries," gardaí said after both of the murders.
An inquest later heard that Moffitt and Snee both suffered multiple sharp force injuries to the neck and head when they were attacked in their homes.
The day before Palani was arrested, Chief Superintendent Aidan Glacken of Sligo Garda Station said: "Michael and Aidan were well known and respected in this community.
"They were assaulted and murdered in their own homes.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with their families at this time and indeed their friends and the wider community in Sligo."
Glacken announced that he had commenced two separate murder investigations and that Gardaí were "actively investigating as to whether there is any hate-related motive to these murders," which he described as "appalling crimes."
Glacken said at the time that Gardaí were also investigating whether Moffitt and Snee met their attacker online.
"Meeting people online is a normal activity," Glacken said. "Meeting people online should be a safe activity.
"But as with any online activity, everybody should be aware of personal safety advice, which we have provided on the Garda website."
The murders of Moffitt and Sligo were denounced by both LGBT Ireland and the Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council (IMPIC). Several vigils against homophobia were hosted across Ireland in the wake of the murders.
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