THE MURDER weapon used to kill Limerick rugby player Shane Geoghegan has still not been recovered, the city’s most senior garda has revealed.
Chief Supt Gerry Mahon described the investigation into the death of the innocent 28-year-old as one of the most “significant” in the Limerick Garda Division in recent times, and said 200 gardaí were assigned to investigate the murder in the immediate aftermath. Chief Supt Mahon also revealed that 120 gardaí made up of 36 teams of officers are involved in interviewing 14 people arrested in connection with the murder earlier this week.
He made the comments at Limerick District Court last night where the State applied to have the detention period extended for 10 of those arrested last Tuesday morning.
Seven men and seven women were arrested during a series of pre-planned searches involving over 70 gardaí and spanning three counties. Mr Geoghegan was shot dead in a case of mistaken identity near his home in Dooradoyle, Limerick, on November 9th last.
The majority of those arrested last Tuesday were picked up on the southside of Limerick city, while a woman was arrested in the Coolock area of Dublin and a 42-year-old man was arrested in Bansha, Co Tipperary.
All 14 people were still in custody last night and 10 of those, whose periods of detention were due to expire, were brought before a special sitting of Limerick District Court where the State applied for extension orders.
There was a large Garda presence for the special court sitting which was held before Judge Tom O’Donnell. More than 40 detectives were present inside the courtroom, while teams of armed gardaí patrolled the area outside where relatives and friends of those in custody had gathered.
During one of the applications the court heard that a man arrested at 7.15am in Limerick city on Tuesday was interviewed on nine separate occasions over a 14-hour period.
During the hearing Chief Supt Mahon said that the technical and forensic examination of certain material evidence was under active investigation and the results of these examinations would not be available for 48 hours.
“The firearm used in the murder has not been located and extensive searches are still being carried out,” he said. Chief Supt Mahon also revealed that certain new material was recovered yesterday during searches.
Before granting the first application, Judge O’Donnell described the investigation as “complex” and said he was satisfied the interviews were being conducted in a diligent and expeditious manner.
The court heard that five of those who appeared in court last night were being held under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act on suspicion of murder. The other five were being detained under Section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act on suspicion of withholding information.
Four others arrested in Dublin, Tipperary and Limerick on Tuesday were also still in custody at separate Garda stations.