Annie McCarrick suspect 'arrested after brother gave vital tip to gardai'

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Gardai decided to arrest the suspect for the murder of Annie McCarrick after his own brother gave them information on the case, sources have said.
Three days after the suspect was released without charge, sources have told us information a brother living overseas gave to detectives was a main catalyst for Thursday's dramatic arrest. Sources tell us the brother, who has been experiencing serious health problems in recent years, voluntarily spoke to detectives who travelled to the country he is living in earlier this year.
He gave a statement to detectives from Irishtown Garda Station – where the probe into the 1993 murder of the 26-year-old American is based. It's understood that the statement included details of the suspect's alibi for the day in March of that year that New York native Ms McCarrick was last seen in the Sandymount area of the city where she had a flat.
Sources tell us the information weakened that alibi – and was one of the main reasons for the arrest. "The brother did not rat him out, but what he said was important," a source said.
"When it was analysed, it was decided that there was now a basis for the arrest." The suspect, who is a millionaire businessman in his 60s, was arrested by gardai from Irishtown Station on Thursday morning – around the same time officers sealed off and took control of a house in Clondalkin, south west Dublin as part of the murder inquiry.
Gardai stress the current residents of the house are not connected in anyway with Ms McCarrick, or the investigation into her murder. The suspect was detained for 24 hours before being released without charge on Friday afternoon.
Gardai say the investigation is ongoing. That includes an invasive search around the house in Clondalkin. Sources tell us the search is likely to continue for several days.
They added that the original house is not the centre of the Garda probe. Instead, Garda Technical Bureau experts as well as officers from Irishtown are concentrating on the garden area.
Officers are investigating if Ms McCarrick's remains were buried there – many years before the current residents moved in. On Friday, gardai brought in PSNI cadaver dog Fern to carry out a search of the property.
Fern is one of three cadaver dogs used by the PSNI that are occasionally lent to gardai as they don't have their own. The same dog found the remains of Tina Satchwell, 45, buried under the stairs of her home in Youghal, Co Cork in October 2023 – more than six years after she was last seen alive.
Her husband Richard, 58, murdered her at the house in March 2017 – before burying her there. He was last month convicted of Tina's murder – and Fern played a key role in bringing him to justice.
Satchwell is now serving a life sentence – and is likely to spend more than 20 years behind bars. Sources have told us that the McCarrick suspect knew her and had an infatuation with her before she disappeared in 1993.
He has been interviewed by gardai at least twice – but as a witness and who had an alibi. But gardai always viewed him as a person of interest in the mystery and he became a suspect when the case was upgraded to murder in March 2023 – the 30th anniversary of her disappearance.
The man knew Annie, had an infatuation with her and had allegedly stalked and assaulted her. He is believed to have moved in her social circles before the student and restaurant worker vanished.
We revealed last week that gardai have now interviewed around 100 people who worked with or knew Ms McCarrick before her disappearance. Officers have again appealed for the public's help in solving the mystery of what happened to Ms McCarrick.
Her case was treated as a missing person's inquiry until it was upgraded to murder. Investigators believe there are people out there who know what happened to Ms McCarrick – and may have been afraid to come forward in the past.
The force said in a statement: "An Garda Síochána appeal to anyone with information, no matter how small or insignificant that they might believe it to be, to contact the investigation team. Gardaí also appeal to anyone that may have previously come forward but who felt that they could not provide Gardaí with all of the relevant information they had in relation to this matter, to please make contact with An Garda Síochána again.
"With the passage of time they may now be in a position to speak further with the investigation team. Any information will be welcomed by the investigation team, and will be treated in the strictest confidence.
"The investigation team can be contacted at Irishtown Garda Station on 01 666 9600 or anyone who wishes to provide information confidentially should contact the Garda Confidential Line: 1800 666 111."
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