American man charged with murder of Co Kerry farmer has trial date set

The trial of Michael Kelley, the American man charged with the March 2025 murder of Kenmare farmer Michael Gaine, is due to begin in the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on January 11, 2027.

Kelley, who is in custody at Cork Prison, appeared via video-link for Monday's hearing at the Criminal Court of Justice in Dublin. A native of Belfast, Maine, the former US soldier has no fixed abode but most recently had an address in Tralee, Co Kerry. He was formally charged on February 25.

During Monday's hearing, Justice Paul McDermott set the trial date, noting that he could not schedule the trial for Cork due to its predicted length of eight to nine weeks.

Michael Bowman SC, for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), told the court on Monday that there are 191 witnesses in the book of evidence.

Monday's hearing comes less than a month after Kelley appeared before a sitting of Tralee District Court in Co Kerry, where it was determined that he would be sent forth for trial.

56-year-old Michael Gaine was last seen in Kenmare town in Co Kerry on March 20 last year; he was reported missing the following day.

CCTV footage from March 20 showed him buying phone credit in Centra in Kenmare at 9:48 am. He then left in his bronze-colored RAV4, registration 152 KY 366, which was later found parked in his farmyard, just off the N71 at Carrig East.

CCTV footage of Michael Gaine. (An Garda Siochana)

On April 29, Gardaí officially reclassified their missing person investigation to a homicide investigation.

They said at the time that despite the extensive enquiries carried out until that point, Gaine's remains had not yet been recovered.

The day after Gaine's case was reclassified, his wife Janice and sister Noreen issued an emotional appeal for information.

"We just want Michael to come home," Janice said. "We want to know what happened to him."

On May 17, lands at Carrig East in Kenmare - where Gaine's farmyard is located - were declared a crime scene by Gardaí.

Later that day, An Garda Síochána confirmed that "partial human remains" had been found following preliminary examinations at the scene by State Pathologist Dr. Sally Anne Collis and Forensic Anthropologist Laureen Buckley, assisted by the Garda Technical Bureau.

Gardaí said that DNA analysis would be required to carry out formal identification of the recovered human remains.

The following day, Gardaí announced that a man in his 50s - Michael Kelley - had been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Gaine. However, the man was released without charge the following day. Kelley later confirmed to the Irish Mirror that he was the man who had been arrested and released.

Gardaí confirmed on May 27 that the human remains found at farmland at Carrig East in Kenmare were identified as being the remains of Michael Gaine.

A funeral for Gaine was held at Holy Cross Church in Kenmare on June 7. The day before the funeral, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said the investigation into the disappearance and murder of Michael Gaine was set to be peer reviewed.

Kelley was again arrested in connection with Gaine's disappearance and homicide on February 24 this year. He appeared at Tralee District Court the following day, where he was charged with Gaine's murder.

This is the moment Michael Kelley left Tralee District Court charged with the murder of Kerry farmer Michael Gaine. pic.twitter.com/o6q5nkJPwf