Howard link ruled out after bodies exhumed

GARDAÍ who exhumed four bodies from a graveyard close to the home of a convicted rapist and murderer say they are satisfied that information they had received about an illegal burial, while incorrect, was reliable and was given in good faith.

They are not pursuing the matter after no evidence of another body was uncovered. The operation, which involved more than 20 gardaí, including crime scene investigators, lasted nine hours yesterday.

It was not linked to any disappearance or known crime in the region, gardaí say.