Ahmad Al-Saqar, 28, fled to Jordan after 43-year-old Jamey Carney was found dead at her home in Ireland on July 7, with her 13-year-old daughter discovering the body on returning from a sleepover.
Carney, an American who moved to Killarney, County Kerry, in 2021, had been suffocated and bludgeoned with a toilet cistern lid, according to an autopsy reported by The Sun.
Visa loophole and asylum claim
The couple met at a local pro-Palestine protest, according to reports, after Al-Saqar used a £10 online travel authorisation visa to enter Northern Ireland and then crossed the border to Dublin, where he lodged an asylum claim.
That claim was rejected, but Al-Saqar was granted subsidiary protection, a status for people who do not qualify as refugees but face a risk of serious harm in their home country.
Flight to Jordan and extradition
Al-Saqar is understood to have fled in the early hours of July 7, boarding a Turkish Airlines flight to Istanbul before travelling on to Jordan. Officers have reportedly flown out to arrange his extradition to Ireland so he can face a murder charge.
Tributes at funeral
At Carney's funeral earlier this month, she was remembered as a 'ray of sunshine', according to RTE. Chief celebrant Kieran O'Brien said her move from New York to Ireland was 'the best decision of her life', and that her family was happy she and her daughter had 'found a place that they call home'.
O'Brien also called Carney's daughter 'the light of her life' and said condolences had come in from 'all over the country'.
