Close associate of Annie McCarrick suspect led to his arrest

Gardai decided to arrest the chief suspect in the Annie McCarrick murder case after travelling to another jurisdiction to speak with a close associate of the man, Extra.ie has learned.

It is understood the arrest came as detectives worked on the theory that the 26-year-old American student was murdered by a ‘jealous’ man known to her.

The first arrest in the 32-year-old case also came after gardaí crosschecked statements made at the time Ms McCarrick vanished in March 1993 with statements taken over the last two years.

These included statements from the close associate and others known to the chief suspect.

In March 2023, Extra revealed a person of ‘significant interest’ to detectives was identified and that this was the reason the case was being upgraded to a murder investigation at the time.

The development came more than 30 years after Ms McCarrick’s friends originally told gardaí that they were concerned about the man, who was well known to her.

They were worried that the man had been harassing their friend before she suddenly vanished without a trace. Witness statements from the now chief suspect were taken at the time.

However, reported sightings of the young woman deflected attention away from the man. Ms McCarrick was reported to have been seen in Enniskerry and in the nearby Johnnie Fox’s pub.

These sightings became a focus for investigating detectives over the following years.

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Irish American woman Annie McCarrick was last seen in Dublin in March 1993.

In 1998, gardaí established Operation Trace amid growing concerns over several cases involving women who had vanished in the east of the country.

It was set up to determine if any of the cases of these missing women were linked and whether a serial killer was to blame.

This line of enquiry brought gardaí even further away from their now chief suspect. However, in March 2023, the case was to be upgraded to a murder investigation.

By that stage, these previous reported ‘sightings’ had been all but discounted by the new investigation team that was being led by Superintendent Eddie Carroll.

Garda attention moved back to Ms McCarrick’s inner circle at the time and the now chief suspect was examined more closely.

This man went on to lead a full life in the time that elapsed: he married, had children and was successful in business. But this past week − in the first major development in the case − he was arrested.

Another significant development came this week when the suspect’s former family home in Clondalkin, Dublin, was cordoned off.

Heavy machinery was moved in and the cadaver dog, Fern, who found Tina Satchwell’s body buried under the stairs of her family home, was brought in.

Searches of the house, which was significantly renovated 10 years ago, were still going on yesterday.

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Annie McCarrick.

The current owners of the property have nothing to do with the case.

The chief suspect was released without charge on Friday, and he is understood to have returned to his home. Gardaí confirmed the man’s release in a statement.

Unusually in these cases, the statement did not refer to a file being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Sources with knowledge of the case wonder now whether, if detectives had focused more on Ms McCarrick’s personal relationships − as is usually the case when a woman is murdered − the three-decade long case would have been solved long ago.

Despite the passage of time, Ms McCarrick’s family’s lawyer, US-based Michael Griffith, told Extra this week that he has not lost faith in seeing justice done for Annie.

He said he and the family now await the ‘next developments’ in the investigation.

‘I’m a very optimistic lawyer. I hope that one day it will have been solved, and over the years I’ve gone to Ireland, I’ve got some friends there,’ he said.

‘I’ve made it my business to be interviewed by the gardaí, by the local press, to try to keep the embers burning and I’m delighted to know that there’s been an arrest, although there is no conviction at this point, there’s only an arrest.

‘So let’s see what the next developments will be.’

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.