A Kilkenny man wanted over the killing of another Irishman at a Costa Blanca villa in Spain has died.
Spain had just issued a new international arrest warrant against Simon Fahy after declaring him in contempt of court following an earlier failed bid to have him extradited from Ireland over the alleged “love triangle” killing.
The 30-year-old was one of six people, including prime suspect Wayne Walsh, facing trial following a long-running investigation sparked by the January 2019 discovery of Carl Carr’s body in a shallow grave by a motorway. The 38-year-old Dublin man had been reported missing by his British hairdresser girlfriend around five months earlier.
It emerged overnight that Fahy, from Loughboy, Co Kilkenny, died last Friday.
Fahy was first made a wanted man as the “suspected co-author” of Carr's death by Spanish authorities four years ago before their initial extradition request was rejected by Ireland.
A death notice on RIP.ie carried his photo and said he would be “sadly missed” by his heartbroken mum and dad and other relatives and friends.
It added a funeral would take place privately for “family and close friends only”.
The circumstances surrounding his death have not been made public, although it is understood it is not being treated as a crime.
Trial
A start date for the trial to which Spanish authorities wished to add Fahy has not yet been set. However, sources said prosecutors have issued indictments against the other suspects, adding it is likely to be scheduled for “sometime next year”.
All five suspects arrested in connection with the investigation into Carr's death are on bail, including 35-year-old Walsh, who was one of Carr’s flatmates at a residential estate in the Costa Blanca town of Torrevieja.
Among the three female suspects are a part-time model and a bar manager to whom Walsh had been romantically linked. They face lesser charges, including concealment.
A court source said: “The investigating judge decided a trial could take place last month following a lengthy criminal probe.
“Indictments against the accused have been presented and the case has been sent for trial at a higher provincial court.”
Another source added: “Fahy was investigated in this case and the investigating court asked the Irish authorities to locate him after deciding the case should go to trial and inform him of the decision and his legal obligations.
“The Irish authorities replied saying they couldn’t find him at an address they had for him and the Spanish judge issued an international arrest warrant against him.
“That is still in place and will remain so until the courts here have proof of his death.”
Discovery
Mr Carr’s body was found in January 2019, buried by the AP-7 motorway between the Costa Blanca towns of Benijofar and Algorfa.
He had last been seen in September 2018 after a night out in nearby Cabo Roig.
Spanish police said they believed he was killed in a fight with a knuckle-duster before his body was driven to woods 20 minutes north of his home and buried alongside bleach used to clean up the scene.
Investigators suspected Walsh saw red after being told his former partner Mily Leonard, who is also facing trial, had become romantically involved with his flatmate.
Locals said at the time Walsh had started seeing Mily again after a split, but was also sleeping with bar manager Natalie Edwards.
After the discovery of Carr’s body, his mother Marie said: “I believe he was killed because of a romantic triangle, by a man he knew who accused him of dating one of his girlfriends.
“He told me twice in the last conversation we had that he loved me. Those were his last words, ‘I love you Mam’.”
Saying he spoke regularly to his two young children in Ireland, she added: “I knew this was never a voluntary disappearance. He talked to his children every day and he talked to me every second day.
“Whoever did this to my son must pay the consequences.”
In March, it emerged Walsh had been re-arrested in Spain as the alleged leader of a drug trafficking organisation.
He had been released on conditional bail in August 2020 while he continued to be investigated over Carr’s death.
Spain's Civil Guard subsequently held him on suspicion of leading a gang based in the Costa Blanca resort of Torrevieja, which was using parcel and courier companies to send drugs to Ireland, the UK and the US.
The judicial investigation into the drug allegations is still ongoing, but sources said Walsh had also been released on conditional bail in that case.
