Gardaí investigating the murder of Kerry farmer, Michael Gaine requested the assistance of American forensic experts, who had travelled to Ireland to help gardaí carry out a review of the murder of French woman, Sophie Toscan du Plantier.
Officers investigating the murder of Gaine (56), whose dismembered body was found in a slurry tank on his Kenmare farm, sought the assistance of US forensic expert, Suzanna Ryan, who had come to Ireland to use the revolutionary DNA gathering technology M Vac in the Toscan du Plantier case.
Ms Ryan and M Vac chief executive, Jared Bradley, came to Ireland at the end July to examine exhibits in the Toscan du Plantier murder case, including the rock and cavity block used to bludgeon the 39-year-old mother of one to death in west Cork in December 1996.
Ms Ryan and Mr Bradley were brought by Kerry gardaí to the cattle shed at Mr Gaine’s farm at Carrig East 6km from Kenmare.
RM Block
Gardaí believe Mr Gaine was murdered on March 20th in the cattle shed and his body dismembered before being disposed in the slurry tank beneath the slatted unit. Human tissue was recovered on May 16th after an agriculture contractor found tissue while spreading slurry from the tank.
It’s understood Ms Ryan recovered some minute particles of blood in the shed using the M Vac technology, which involves the application of a solution to a surface, and its subsequent vacuuming up and collection, which then can be sent for analysis to see if it contains any relevant DNA.
Gardaí had hoped that the blood samples recovered from the cow shed might help them identify Gaine’s killer, but the blood was actually bovine blood from calving when it was tested by scientists at Forensic Science Ireland laboratory in Kildare.
Gardaí have previously sought assistance from abroad with team of Dutch investigators using specialised drone equipment detecting soil disturbance.
The Dutch team spent several days using their highly sensitive drone technology flying over the 404 hectare hillside farm to see if it could detect any sign of the soil being disturbed amid garda suspicions that Gaine’s killer may have buried the weapons used to kill the Kerry farmer.
Gardaí found a number of knives on Gaine’s property but don’t believe they were the weapons used to kill him. They had sought the assistance of the Dutch experts to search the land given the huge amount of ground that they had to cover to find a possible disposal site for the weapons.
Gaine lived at Carhoomengar with his wife, Janice, who reported him missing on March 21st. The case was upgraded to a murder inquiry on April 29th.
US citizen Michael Kelley (53) who lived at the old farmhouse at Carrig East in return for helping Gaine on the farm, was arrested but released without charge.
He has denied any involvement in Gaine’s murder.
