{"id":315345,"date":"2026-02-24T21:06:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T21:06:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/315345\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T21:06:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T21:06:07","slug":"gardai-continue-to-quiz-suspect-in-michael-gaine-murder-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/315345\/","title":{"rendered":"Garda\u00ed continue to quiz suspect in Michael Gaine murder case"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A man in his 50s remains under questioning in a Kerry garda station tonight following his arrest in connection with the murder of Kerry farmer <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/maintopics\/michael-gaine_topic-5297701.html\">Michael Gaine.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mr Gaine\u2019s remains were first found in a slurry spreader on his farm outside Kenmare last May.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Garda\u00ed arrested a man in his 50s just after 7.30am on Tuesday, the second arrest in connection with the murder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The suspect was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984, which permits garda\u00ed to detain him for up to 24 hours, at which point he must be either charged or released.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Kerry&#8217;s Serious Crime Unit is leading the investigation, with support from the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (GNBCI).<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Family liaison officers continue to support Mr Gaine\u2019s family, garda\u00ed confirmed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Media gathered outside Castleisland garda station on Tuesday following news of the suspect\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Gaine, a popular 56-year-old farmer and motorsports enthusiast, was first reported missing from his home near Kenmare on March 21, 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">He was last seen alive buying mobile phone credit at a Centra shop in Kenmare on March 20, 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">He then drove off in his vehicle, a Toyota Rav4, which was later found at his farmyard in Carrig East outside Kenmare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Gaine\u2019s mobile phone and wallet were found in his vehicle.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/news\/munster\/arid-41604532.html&lt;br&gt;\">Hundreds of people<\/a> had unsuccessfully searched his 1,000 acre farm at Carrig East, approximately 8k from Kenmare following his disappearance.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Defence Forces members, Kerry Mountain Rescue, the Civil Defence, the Garda Water Unit Team and many local volunteers were involved in the search.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Last May, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.irishexaminer.com\/news\/munster\/arid-41634649.html\">human tissue<\/a> was found on his farm when a relative was spreading slurry.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The relative noticed a blockage in the slurry spreader, and when they inspected it, they found what appeared to be human body parts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">During a subsequent search of the slurry tank, garda\u00ed found more human remains.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The remains were later identified as Mr Gaine&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Garda\u00ed previously arrested former US soldier Michael Kelley on suspicion of Mr Gaine&#8217;s murder.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Kelley was arrested last May, days after Mr Gaine&#8217;s remains were found on his farm. But he was released without charge a day later. He has denied killing Mr Gaine.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Kelley had been living on Mr Gaine\u2019s farm at Carrig East when the farmer disappeared.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Following Mr Gaine\u2019s death, he moved to Tralee and has been staying in State-funded accommodation, it is understood.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mr Kelley had applied for asylum in Ireland but his application was rejected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A man in his 50s remains under questioning in a Kerry garda station tonight following his arrest in&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":315346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5658,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-315345","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-irish-examiner-instagram","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-top-news","12":"tag-top-stories","13":"tag-topnews","14":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=315345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/315345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/315346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=315345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=315345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=315345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}