Murder hunt underway after farmer and son shot dead in Kerry

3/28/2008 - 5:26:56 PM

Gardaí were tonight looking for a double killer after a farmer and his son were shot dead at their rural home.

Michael Hanrahan, 60, and his 27-year-old son, Denis, were shot several times each at the remote bungalow they shared outside the small village of Moyvane in Co Kerry.

Their bodies were discovered next to each other in one of the bedrooms, with around eight shotgun cartridges on the floor next to them, yesterday morning.

A shotgun found elsewhere in the house, near Listowel in north Kerry, has been sent to ballistics experts in the Garda Technical Bureau to see if it is the murder weapon.

However, the location of the gun – which has not been disclosed – led investigators to conclude it was unlikely to have been used in the double murder.

One Garda source said it did not appear as though there had been any attempt to conceal it.

A registration number from the shotgun was being compared against local records held in Listowel Garda Station to see if it was registered to the farmhouse.

Investigators remain baffled as to the motive, with no obvious sign of a break-in at the house and no evidence of any burglary or robbery.

“Everything is still on the table,” said one Garda source.

“Sometimes things happen in investigations that bring you down a certain way fairly quickly, but those things aren’t happening in this one.”

Detectives have yet to establish if the outside doors were usually locked, whether it is likely the Hanrahans may have known their killer or if there was any money taken from the house.

While door-to-door inquiries continued in the shocked close-knit community, there have been no formal police interviews or declared suspects.

No-one has come forward to say they heard or saw anything suspicious on the night before the bodies were discovered by a cousin of Denis – a plasterer – who called on him at around 9am after he failed to turn up for a job.

A Garda source admitted: “Because of where the house is – in a relatively isolated area – I’d say witnesses aren’t going to be a great feature of this investigation.”

More than 60 investigating officers from Listowel Garda Station and national units are involved in extensive searches in a wide area around the murder scene.

Investigators originally suspected a possible murder-suicide but concluded it was a double killing after seeing the results of post-mortem examinations by Deputy State Pathologist Margaret Bolster at Kerry General Hospital in Tralee.

It is also understood there was no blood trail to suggest that the bodies had been moved.

Michael, whose wife, Anne, died from cancer 12 years ago, was well-known and highly regarded in Moyvane.

He was a correspondent for The Kerryman newspaper and known for his active involvement in the village’s sports and arts associations.

Denis, who helped his father run the family dairy farm, and his twin brother, Shane, were also known for posting local news on an internet website used by residents and ex-patriates keeping in touch with Moyvane.

He also had three sisters who were being comforted by friends and family.