DNA evidence may prove pivotal in Melanie case

By Cormac O’Keeffe

Monday, February 13, 2012

Gardaí will know as early as today if they have a DNA match linking a key suspect to last week’s murder of Melanie McCarthy.

Gardaí have retrieved a "clear image" from a CCTV camera of a suspect which was recovered from where the killers of the 16-year-old dumped their jeep last Tuesday night.

Garda sources said they don’t yet know if this man was in the jeep, but have established from his record and his criminal associates that he "fits the picture" and is "well prepared" to kill.

However, it won’t be until officers get the results of DNA tests from the murder weapon and other evidential items until they can definitively link this man to the crime.

Garda sources said they hope to get the results of the tests either today or tomorrow.

If they get a positive confirmation they will then go looking for the man, apply for search warrants and seek to arrest him.

Detectives said there was no point arresting the man before they get these results.

The garda investigation team has drawn up a list of eight potential suspects who could be among the killers.

Detectives believe at least two men were in the 4x4 used in the murder, which happened in Brookfield estate, Tallaght, west Dublin.

Melanie was sitting in the back seat of a car parked on Brookview Way at around 10.35pm, when gunmen in a black Hyundai Santa Fe 4x4 pulled up alongside.

The 4x4 was driven a short distance to Citywest and abandoned at Brown’s Barn, off the Naas Road.

They failed to set fire to the vehicle to destroy forensic evidence.

They also dumped the shotgun, balaclavas, scarf and gloves near the scene.

Detectives have identified a number of suspects, including a key individual from Ballyfermot. Garda sources said that many of them are "small enough" in terms of their activities.

a d v e r t i s e m e n t

This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Monday, February 13, 2012

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DNA evidence may prove pivotal in Melanie case