Gardaí arrest 29-year-old in Kerry murder investigation

Gardaí investigating the murder of a father of two in Co Kerry over two years ago have this morning arrested a man for questioning about the killing.

Detectives arrested the 29-year-old man at his home near Killorglin shortly before 7am this morning for questioning about the murder of James Cahillane.

The body of Mr Cahillane (58) was found in the badly burned ruin of his house at Ardraw, Beaufort where he lived alone early on the morning of April 19th 2012.

Initially gardaí thought Mr Cahillane had died in the house fire but a post-mortem by Assistant State Pathologist, Dr Margaret Bolster found he had been assaulted.

Gardaí believe Mr Cahillane’s killer set his house alight in a bid to destroy any DNA evidence and upon receipt of the post-mortem results, they began a murder inquiry.

The man arrested this morning has been brought to Tralee Garda Station where he is being detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act for questioning about the killing.

In May 2013, Gardaí arrested a man in his late 20s and a woman in her 50s for questioning about the killing but both were later released without charge and a file sent to the DPP.

An electrician who worked with FEXCO in Killorglin, Mr Cahillane finished work at 5.30pm on April 18th 2012, did some grocery shopping and withdrew some cash from an ATM.

During the evening he visited Sheehan’s and Clifford’s public houses in the town before taking a taxi to his home at approximately 10.50 pm when he was last seen alive.

Gardaí investigating Mr Cahillane’s killing carried out a technical examination of the scene and took statements from over 400 people.