Tom Cournane News Today

The death of man linked to the couple arrested on suspicion of the murder of Baby John in Kerry may prove crucial in determining what action is taken over the killing.

The death of man linked to a couple arrested on suspicion of the murder of Baby John in Kerry may prove crucial in determining what action is taken over the killing.

The death of man linked to the couple arrested on suspicion of the murder of Baby John in Kerry may prove crucial in determining what action is taken over the killing.

The couple arrested last week on suspicion of the murder of Baby John almost 40 years ago in Kerry were subjected to “intense interrogation” by gardaí who wanted “an admission”, their solicitor has claimed.

A man in his 60s and a woman in her 50s have been arrested in connection with the murder of baby boy in the Republic of Ireland almost 40 years ago.

It was Saturday, April 14, 1984. Local farmer Jack Griffin was running along White Strand Beach in Cahersiveen, Co Kerry, when he saw what looked like a doll lying on the rocks. He looked closer and realised it wasn’t a doll. It was the lifeless body of a naked baby boy. An empty fertiliser bag was nearby.

And yet for all the attention that the Kerry babies scandal attracted in the 1980s, in the intervening period there was little detailed inquiry into who actually killed the child - once the initial, catastrophically botched investigation into the case was over. That was until Supt Murphy reopened the investigation into the murder amid no little fanfare and some controversy in the surrounding areas last year. While there is some scepticism in the area that the truth will emerge, and a veil of si...