Suspect; American Arrested/Released in Michael Gaine Probe Says He's Being Framed

[Ladybbird]

Missing Farmer Michael Gaine Investigation Intensifying as Gardai Trawl Phone Records

Gardai are now focusing their primary efforts on solving the case on communications devices, including laptops and phones.

IrishCentral 4 MAY 2025




Gardai have now shifted focus to trawling through phone records in a bid to solve the mystery which has gripped the small town of Kenmare.





CCTV footage of Michael Gaine in Centra in Kenmare town on Thursday, March 20.



As tourists began to swarm the picturesque town for the May Bank Holiday, locals were still in shock about the ongoing mystery of a well known member of their tight knit community.

With Gardai now focusing their primary efforts on solving the case on communications devices, including laptops and phones, Mr Gaines farm was eerily quiet.

Garda? have officially upgraded Mr Gaines disappearance to homicide after two months of searches resulted in no leads.

Items, such as laptops and mobile phones, and designated areas are now subject to forensic examination.

Up until this week, the disappearance had been treated as a missing persons case, but the Gardai escalated it on Tuesday by upgrading it to a homicide investigation.

This now gives Gardai extra powers in terms of what they can do and the records they can access.

During the past six weeks, Gardai, with assistance from the army and helicopters and drones, searched the 1000 acres of Carrig East which is on the road between Kenmare and Molls Gap and runs all the way down to the famous lakes of Killarney.

All of the land has been searched over the last number of weeks, and a huge amount of resources expended, but yielded no results. The army had been involved, as had the sub Aqua team, search and rescue dogs, and drone mapping of the area.

The investigation team has also trawled through a huge amount of CCTV, hours of footage, and dash cam footage, and they've taken MORE statements.

[Ladybbird]

Farmer Michael Gaine Killer Cut Body Into Small Parts Pushed Through Gaps Inches Wide

Officers in Ireland believed the killer of beloved farmer Michael Gaine, 56, spent hours dismembering the mans body, possibly with a chainsaw before pushing it through tiny gaps on his farm

IrishCentral 24 MAY 2025








Slurry tanks at the scene in Carrig East, Kenmare


Investigators believe the killer of farmer Michael Gaine cut his body into pieces so small that the remains were able to fit through tiny gaps just a few inches wide.



The 56 year old was reported missing from his home near Kenmare on March 21 before neighbours alerted Garda? Irish police to human remains they had found while spreading the contents of a slurry tank around his farm last week.

Officers believe the murderer spent hours cutting up Mr Gaines body before squeezing the remains through tiny gaps between wooden slats that were being used to cover a huge slurry tank on his farm. Sources told the Irish Mirror that investigators also believe the murderer used water and disinfectant to wash away forensic evidence into the same slurry tank on the Carrig East farm where gardai have reportedly recovered almost all of his remains.

A significant amount of the remains are believed to have been found in fields across the 1,000 acre farm that had been spread with slurry taken from the tank while most are thought to have been recovered from the tank. The discoveries were made by specialist gardai from the Technical Bureau and the Water Unit, who combed large areas of land as well as every inch of the large slurry tank.

While they have not yet been formally identified, sources say Gardai are satisfied the remains are that of Mr Gaine, who was last seen in a Centra Shop in Kenmare, around 8kms from his farm, on March 20.

Officers beleive Mr Gaine may have been killed at the farm on the day he was last seen, before his body was moved to the slurry tank, where the killer spent hours dismembering it possibly with a chainsaw. A number of tools were recovered from the farmland in recent days, including one that appeared to have been hidden. Police have sent these off for forensic testing.

Neighbours who were spreading slurry taken from a tank on Mr Gaines farmyard made the discovery. Pieces of remains got stuck in the spreader and when the neighbours examined them, they quickly called in gardai.

It led to the arrest of a suspect on Sunday. He was detained on suspicion of murder for 24 hours, but released without charge from Killarney Garda Station late on Monday night. The suspect, who is in his 50s, was known to Mr Gaine.

Gardai say the investigation is ongoing.




A mechanical digger used to excavate the farm





Michaels wife Janice left with his sister Noreen

[Ladybbird]

Suspect; American Man Arrested and Released in Michael Gaine Murder Suggests He's Being Framed

Michael Kelly, who admits he was the suspect arrested in the Michael Gaine investigation, suggested that he's being framed.

IrishCentral 25 MAY





Man arrested in Michael Gaine probe revolted by farmers plight and recalls past life. The American man spoke out in an interview yesterday




Asked if he was disgusted by what appears to have happened, Mr Kelley said: Yes, yes absolutely revolted. Heartbreaking.

Mr Kelley, who is originally from Maine in the US, said Mr Gaine took him in and allowed him to work on his thousand acre farm in Kenmare, Co Kerry, three years ago.

About three years. I was between jobs and I was looking for work and I was already in the neighbourhood and I was canvassing different farms just knocking on doors and looking for jobs, he explained. Asked was Mr Gaine good to him, he said: He was OK

Asked then if there were difficulties between him and the suspected murder victim, Mr Kelley said: "Based off the advice of my solicitor Im going to decline to speak further

The US native, who says hes been seeking asylum in Ireland for the past seven years, also said that he accepts he will likely be quizzed by gardai over the killing again.

Speaking of his past life, Mr Kelley said: I left behind a house, a family, everything. Mr Kelley, who had earlier alleged that he was being framed for the murder of Mr Gaine, said he deduced that the remains were found, while he was still living on the land.

However he claimed that gardai were not being forthcoming and said they had searched the slurry tanks in the very first week of Mr Gaines disappearance. They didnt disclose to me that they discovered it, I had to deduce it, he said.

Do you know who I am? Well then why do you ask? Whether or not Im a suspect is not a matter of perspective. Its a matter of public record, he also said.

Its believed that the killer used water and disinfectant to remove forensic evidence from the scene, washing it into the same slurry tank where the remains were later discovered.