Gardaí investigating if Mike Gaine’s remains were dumped in slurry pit AFTER cops cleared the scene

Gardaí are advancing the theory that the remains of murder victim Michael Gaine may have been placed in the slurry pit after the Guards had conducted an extensive search of the tank, Extra.ie can reveal. 

The massive slurry tank was installed on Mike Gaine’s farm in Kenmare in 2016, with The Sunday World newspaper unearthing footage of Mr. Gaine himself overseeing the pit being installed at his farm in Kenmare. 

Mr. Gaine, a 56-year-old sheep farmer with land near Kenmare in Co Kerry, was reported missing from his home more than eight weeks ago.

On Saturday, partial remains were found at Mr. Gaine’s farm in Carrig East, and a crime scene was declared as gardaí searched for further remains.

The search at the 56-year-old’s farm was sparked when several people involved in slurry spreading became suspicious of material left on fields.

Since the gruesome discovery, questions have now been raised as to how Gardaí, who conducted an intensive search of the entire Gaine’s lands, could have missed the remains in the slurry tank when it was searched at the initial stages of the investigation.

"The entire Gaine lands, barns, machinery and outhouses were turned upside down looking for Mike," a source familiar with the ongoing investigation told Extra.ie 

"And the slurry tank is an obvious place to conceal a body or any clues material to the investigation. So it was searched and searched extensively," revealed the source. 

"The thinking now is that the remains were put into the tank after guards had searched and found nothing, and hence given it the all clear. It’s a massive tank but there was a really experienced search team dedicated to this investigation. 

"So detectives are following a definite line of enquiry that the body parts had been put in after Gardaí had departed the scene," an inside source revealed to Extra.ie.

Forensic and laboratory tests on the presumed remains of Mr. Gaine will now be central in determining the precise cause of death and how long the dismembered remains were in a slurry tank before being discovered.

A source stressed that they hope forensic and laboratory tests can give them a precise timeline to operate from, as detectives fear Mr. Gaine died just hours after he was last seen.

On Sunday, a man was arrested on suspicion of Mr. Gaine’s murder under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

The suspect, who is in his 50s and was known to the missing Kerry farmer, was released after the maximum detention period expired.

The alarm was raised on March 21 when Mr. Gaine’s family and friends could not contact him.

The case was upgraded to a ­homicide investigation on April 29, almost six weeks after he disappeared.

*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.