It is “very difficult” to see how the suspect in the Jamey Carney murder case will ever be questioned by Gardaí, a journalist covering the case has said. 

The American mother of one was found dead in her Killarney home last Tuesday and a post-mortem examination concluded she died a violent death. 

Gardaí launched a murder investigation and announced that they hope to speak to a man in his 20s, who was known to her but is now understood to have fled the country. 

“Jamie Carney is believed to have been killed at about 11 o'clock last Monday evening,” Ralph Riegel of the Irish Independent explained on Newstalk Breakfast. 

“At around three o'clock in the morning, this person of significant interest to the Gardaí caught a bus from Killarney to Dublin and then just after 10am boarded a flight for Istanbul in Turkey. 

“Now, it's believed the man immediately left Turkey - of course, there is an extradition arrangement between Turkey and Ireland and travelled onwards.

“It's believed that he travelled to Jordan through Syria.”

It means that even if Gardaí sent a file recommending charges to the Director of Public Prosecutions and those charges are sanctioned, it is unlikely the suspect will ever be brought to trial or even questioned. 

No extradition treaty exists between Ireland and Jordan, meaning he would have to return voluntarily to the State. 

“Just to underline the level of difficulty involved, there is an extradition arrangement in place between Jordan and the United States,” Mr Riegel said. 

“Now, the United States is a major donor, both in terms of military and economic aid to Jordan. 

“But even with that extradition treaty in place, the Jordanian courts are very, very reluctant to extradite their citizens to the US.

“It's very much operated on a case by case basis; to date, the only major extraditions that have taken place involved terrorism offences - which clearly in Ireland's case, this does not involve that.”

Mr Riegel continued that because the suspect had left Ireland by the time Ms Carney’s body was found, Gardaí were at a “huge disadvantage” when it comes to bringing him in for questioning 

“Once you leave the jurisdiction, it makes the Garda task much more difficult,” Mr Riegel said. 

“But again, the lack of an extradition process makes it very difficult in terms of what alternatives are actually there to see this individual brought back to Ireland and - if this is the individual that they want to charge - how he will face justice.”

Main image: Jamey Carney.