Kerry Babies: The cold case team behind the investigation
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A veil of secrecy has surrounded the cold case review into the killing of 'Baby John' who was found on White Strand beach near Caherciveen, Co Kerry, on April 14, 1984, having sustained 28 stab wounds and a broken neck.
A team of detectives from the Kerry Garda division, who were handpicked in 2018 to take part in the review, has worked closely over a five-year period with their Dublin-based colleagues from the Serious Crime Review Team (SCRT), leading to the arrests of a man and a woman on Thursday.
Gardaí stated in a release that the man, who is in his sixties, and the woman, who is in her fifties, were arrested in Munster. Gardaí also only confirmed that they were being detained in Garda stations in the “south of the country”.
Scant detail being provided to the media in a case of this type is somewhat understandable given the sensitivities involved. The initial investigation in 1984 caused considerable trauma to Joanne Hayes from Abbeydorney in Co Kerry who was wrongfully accused of killing Baby John.
Advances in DNA technology ruled out any connection between Ms Hayes and the child and she and her siblings received a full State apology in the High Court in 2020 for the treatment meted out to them at the time.
The cold case review has mainly occurred out of the public eye. Cold case reviews apply modern techniques to answer decades-old questions. Members of the SCRT look for new routes of investigation when they visit historical cases.
The SCRT was formed in 2007 and has adopted the motto of “to the living we owe respect; to the dead we owe the truth".
The unit has seen much in the way of success. The case of the 2005 murder of 43-year-old Louth woman, Irene White, was taken over by the team in 2011. Since, two men have been sentenced to life in prison for her murder.
Meanwhile, in January 2018, at the start of the cold case review for Baby John, gardaí issued an appeal to people who were living in the area where the body of the infant was found to come forward with any information they might have which could solve the case.
The review has involved the interview of hundreds of people with 560 separate lines of inquiry being followed. Gardaí have also received voluntary DNA samples from a large number of individuals in Caherciveen and surrounding areas.
Door-to-door inquiries were carried out in Valentia Island five years ago as investigating officers teased out one of many lines of investigation. At the time they were addressing the possibility that the infant could possibly have been placed in the sea on the island with his body washing up in White Strand.
Gardaí have repeatedly indicated that no detail is “too small” in terms of the significance it could hold in relation to solving the killing of the baby boy.