Justice Minister hopes gardaí can question murder suspect in Jordan

There are “innovative mechanisms” available to gardaí to potentially question a suspect in the Jamey Carney murder case, the Justice Minister has said.

Ms Carney, an American mother-of-one, was found dead at a home in Killarney, Co Kerry on July 7.

Gardaí said a person of interest in the case left the country before her body was discovered, and he has been detained in Jordan.

Asked on Thursday if there was any chance of gardaí being able to question the suspect, Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said: “I would hope that the gardaí would be able to speak to that suspect, and I know there’s very good relationships between An Garda Síochána and other police forces throughout the world.

“So I suspect that An Garda Síochána are in touch with their Jordanian colleagues in respect of it.

“We don’t have an extradition agreement in place with Jordan at present, but I don’t think that should necessarily be the the end of it.

“I think there are mechanisms, innovative mechanisms, available that could enable the gardaí to question the suspect out in Jordan, and even perhaps being able to bring him back.”

However, he said he had no timeline for this.

Elsewhere on Thursday, Jordan’s Ministries of Interior and Justice said they had “received a report from the Irish authorities concerning the murder of an American woman in Ireland”.

A statement said: “Initial investigations indicate that a Jordanian citizen is suspected of committing the crime.”

The statement added that the security authorities “immediately launched search and investigation operations and tracked the suspect after locating his residence and whereabouts”.

The ministries said: “He was arrested, his statement was taken according to standard procedures, and he was then referred to the Public Prosecutor of the Major Criminal Court, who initiated the investigation and ordered his detention for 15 days at the Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre to continue the investigation.”