Gardaí expect further arrests relating to the murder of Kyran Durnin and said the death of a suspect in the case would not diminish efforts to find the boy’s remains and bring to justice anyone involved in his killing or the cover-up of his death.
Though gardaí are still determined to bring murder charges in the case, a range of other crimes related to the boy’s death and its concealment are also likely to result in prosecutions.
One of two people arrested last week, Anthony Maguire (36), was found dead at his home in Drogheda, Co Louth, on Tuesday morning. Though a note was discovered, and is believed to have been written by Mr Maguire, it made no reference to Kyran’s death or related matters.
While Mr Maguire was not Kyran’s father, and was not related to him, he had access to the boy around the time gardaí believe he died, in the second half of 2022, when he was six years of age. A woman arrested last week, also on suspicion of Kyran’s murder, claimed during Garda interviews that Mr Maguire was caring for the boy in 2022 when he was last seen alive.
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That claim resulted in the 36-year-old Drogheda man, who had a history of violent assault, being arrested last Thursday. He was released without charge and his home underwent an intrusive search by gardaí. A cadaver dog was brought in and machinery was used to dig the back garden.
He denied involvement in harming or killing Kyran, however, and it appears the search of the property – the third house to be searched as part of the murder investigation – did not yield evidence that could unlock the case.
Gardaí also believe Mr Maguire, along with another person of interest in the case, was centrally involved in presenting a decoy child in a bid to convince the authorities earlier this year that Kyran was still alive. Another boy was presented as Kyran at a meeting with staff from Tusla and also at accommodation in Co Louth.
However, Garda sources stress that Mr Maguire was not the only murder suspect, saying others may have been responsible for the boy’s death and that several people were involved in its cover-up over a period of more than two years.
The last confirmed sighting of Kyran was at national school in Dundalk, Co Louth, in May-June 2022 and gardaí have been unable to find any evidence he was alive after that date. This is despite a missing persons report being made at the end of August claiming Kyran and his mother had gone missing from Drogheda the previous day.
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has pointed to how crucial it is to find Kyran’s body to progress the murder investigation. He said he believed the boy has been dead since soon after he was last seen alive in May 2022, meaning two years had elapsed before concerns for Kyran’s welfare were flagged with the Garda by Tusla at the end of August.
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