The suspect in the Michael Gaine murder case has denied having any involvement in the killing of the Co Kerry farmer.
Michael Kelley, a former US Army soldier, claims he is being framed by a subversive criminal organisation.
Mr Kelley, who is an American citizen in his 50s, has told RTÉ News that he was the man arrested and questioned by gardaí on suspicion of murdering Mr Gaine.
Having been detained and questioned for a period of 24 hours in Killarney Garda Station he was released without charge on 19 May.
RTÉ News has spoken to Mr Kelley on two occasions.
The first interview took place in early April in the old farmhouse where Mr Kelley had been living on Mr Gaine's farm. This interview was conducted before Mr Kelley was arrested and when Mr Gaine’s disappearance was still being treated as a missing persons case.
Mr Kelley also spoke to RTÉ News last Monday, in the apartment where he now lives in Tralee.
During this meeting, Mr Kelley confirmed on the record that he had since been arrested and questioned. He also reaffirmed aspects of this case discussed in the initial meeting.
Mr Kelley said he worked as a labourer on Mr Gaine’s farm for almost three years.
"We worked hand and glove. Doing the sheep or whatever, dosing them and stuff. I had already handled animals. I was fixing cars and tractors for him."
Mr Kelley said he last saw Mr Gaine "around 10am" on 20 March when they met in the farmyard. Mr Gaine had indicated to him that he was planning to meet somebody that day, before giving Mr Kelley a list of chores to complete during the day.
Mr Kelley said he then returned to the old farmhouse to make coffee, adding that was the last time he saw Mr Gaine.
"Around 10am. He was as normal as ever. He was doing his chores. Redistributing the silage and things. Just ordinary chores.
"He said 'look after the chores for me. I’m just going to meet a man. I’ll be back later'.
"He didn’t come back that night. He said he would be back. Then they came looking for him at about 10am the following morning."
The Kerry farmer disappeared on 20 March. Mr Gaine’s vehicle, which contained a number of personal items, was found on the farm at Carrig East, situated between the town of Kenmare and Moll’s Gap.
In an effort to establish the whereabouts of Mr Gaine, an extensive search of Mr Gaine’s farm, surrounding valleys and lakes was initiated.
Mr Gaine’s disappearance was upgraded by gardaí from a missing person case to a homicide investigation on 29 April.
Human remains were discovered on Mr Gaine’s farm on 16 May, as workers were spreading slurry on fields. The farm was immediately sealed off and declared a crime scene.
Further human remains are believed to have been found in a slurry spreader and in a slurry tank on the farm in the following days.
Gardaí say DNA tests have since confirmed that the human remains are those of Mr Gaine.
Mr Kelley was arrested on suspicion of murder by gardaí in Tralee on 16 May.
He had relocated to an apartment there two weeks previous to his arrest. Mr Kelley denies any involvement in the murder of Mr Gaine and believes Mr Gaine may have been lured to his death by sinister elements.
"If he wasn’t around the barn during the day, it’s possible that somebody lured him, maybe at gun point, in to an area of concealment. You could walk 100 yards from the barn and be totally out of sight."
Mr Kelley has his own theories about how Mr Gaine was killed and how his body was disposed of.
He also believes there are questions to be answered about the way the investigation is being conducted by gardaí.
Mr Kelley said he was taken to Sneem Garda Station shortly after Mr Gaine’s disappearance to make a voluntary statement.
Mr Kelley was arrested on 18 May, two days after human remains were discovered on Mr Gaine’s farm.
Questioned by RTÉ News about his relationship with Mr Gaine, Mr Kelley described it as "transactional" and "a good working relationship."
"I wouldn’t describe us as great friends, but we got on. Our relationship was transactional. He gave me accommodation, food and paid me. In return I worked on his farm.
"We had a good working relationship. A civil relationship. We got on and understood one another.
"We are both farmers. We are getting along because we are grown men and we have work to do.
"We were brothers of the land, around the same age, with similar interests, and I liked that sense of brotherhood."
Mr Kelley said he repaired and maintained farm machinery and vehicles for Mr Gaine.
Mr Kelley also showed RTÉ News an old range [stove] in the farmhouse which he said he had repaired and plumbed to provide hot water in a makeshift sink.
Mr Kelley was using what appeared to be a tractor battery to charge his personal devices. He said there was no electricity in the house, but that he was comfortable.
"The arrangement got me out of the limbo I was in where I needed a job and I needed a place to stay. I was doing the work and we were getting along alright.
Mr Kelley is originally from a rural part of Maine in the United States. He said he served in the US military as an infantry private and spent an extended period of his service in Germany.
Mr Kelley, who is separated and has three daughters, said he arrived in Ireland in late 2017.
He claims he was forced to flee the United States as he had been investigating criminal activity there and feared his life was in danger.
Mr Kelley said he remains in danger and he is of the belief that he continues to be monitored by sinister elements here in Ireland.
"It’s an organised crime network. It’s co-ordinated on the internet," he said.
After an unsuccessful attempt to secure asylum status in Ireland, Mr Kelley said he spent prolonged periods living in the forests in Killarney National Park and in another wooded area between Sneem and Kenmare.
He said he held a number of jobs in the Glenbeigh and Sneem/Kenmare areas, including as a seaweed harvester and as a landscape gardener, before he went to work for Michael Gaine.
Mr Kelley said he is a mechanic and also designs prototypes. During the interview in the old farmhouse on Mr Gaine’s farm, Mr Kelley showed RTÉ News a sketch book which contained many detailed drawings of various pieces of equipment which he had designed.
He said he hopes to share these designs with MI5 or other military entities.
Mr Kelley is also a musician who plays the flute and tin whistle along with other instruments. He was recently seen busking in Tralee.
During the course of his interview with RTÉ News he played a traditional Irish air, An Cúilfhionn.
Mr Kelley said he first met Mr Gaine when he approached the farmer seeking work in 2022.
He had been living in a makeshift camp in the woods a few kilometres from Mr Gaine’s farm when Mr Gaine offered to let him stay in the old farmhouse:
"It suited me. Firstly, it offered me access to food and it gave me a roof over my head," he said.
