Man, 35, in court charged with murder of Carrie Mullane

A 35-year-old man has appeared in court charged with the murder of missing Limerick woman Carrie Mullane (Noonan).

Mullane, 39, has been missing since she arrived in Enniskillen from Limerick on 10 October 2026.

Michael Lynch, of Trasna Park in Enniskillen appeared via video link before Dungannon Magistrates' Court on Saturday morning.

The 35-year-old man is also charged with preventing lawful burial. He confirmed he understood the charges against him.

Members of Mullane's family in Limerick watched proceedings via videolink.

Warning: Some readers may find the detail in this report distressing

The court heard that detectives believe that Mullane was murdered at a property in Trasna Park shortly after she arrived in Enniskillen on 10 October.

They believe the suspect then disposed of her body in Lough Erne.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Senior Invesitigating Officer Det Sgt Olivia Lyons told the court that Mullane was due to collect benefits in person in Limerick weekly and has not done so since 10 October.

This was described as highly unusual.

She has also had no contact with friends or family since then.

Lyons also told the court that Mullane's family told police they had serious concerns about Lynch's abusive behaviour.

Lyons told the court that Lynch was the last person to see Mullane.

Lynch initially told police he had not seen her since 10 October, he fell asleep and she had disappeared, that he received an incoherent Facebook message ending their relationship.

He told police she owed some money to unknown persons.

Police spoke to Lynch again on 30 October, when it is alleged he provided detectives with a different version of events.

"He implied he'd been knocked out by a substance administered by Mullane but was vague in description and he provided no detail," Det Sgt Lyons said.

"He woke up and she was gone."

He showed police a Facebook message he had received from Mullane but it's claimed that message "was not typically how she would speak in messages", the court heard.

The court also heard Lynch consented to a police search of the Trasna Park property on 30 October, but "within minutes" withdrew that consent.

The court heard he did engage with detectives and allowed community search and rescue to search the property, but Mullane was not located.

CCTV inquiries established that Lynch and Mullane travelled by taxi from Enniskillen bus station.

The taxi driver has provided a statement which states Mullane "was under the influence of alcohol and Lynch was slabbering", she was so intoxicated that Lynch had to help her out of the taxi, the court heard.

House to house inquiries heard the couple, who had an on/off relationship since December 2025, were staying in a campervan which was parked at the front of a house in Trasna Park.

Neighbours reported seeing Mullane frequently move between the house and the campervan, but have reported no sightings in the past number of weeks.

The court heard that police inquiries established that Lynch was witnessed cleaning the campervan out on 23 October and it was towed away.

Police seized the campervan from a local scrapyard.

A number of exhibits were found in the campervan inluding a blood stained carpet, blood stained shoe as well as a bottle of cleaning liquid.

Mullane's DNA was discovered on each of the items.

Lyons told the court that the carpet in the Trasna Park property had recently been lifted and it appeared to be the blood stained carpet in the campervan.

She also said that blood spatters were also discovered on the television in the property, those were linked to Mullane and the accused.

The court was told that Lynch asked a man to bring him to a sinking boat at Carrybridge.

The court was also told that the man who brought him to the boat said the request was strange as he did not know him very well and the contact was through SnapChat.

The boat was located earlier this week and is due to be forensically examined.

Lyons told the court that CCTV footage shows the campervan moving in the early hours of 11 October towards a jetty near Carrybridge on Lough Erne.

PSNI believe that he disposed of evidence and her body at the stage.

Lynch was interviewed 16 times over the course of a number of days.

Police have also formally appealed to him, via letter, to return the victim's body.

His barrister said Lynch has cooperated fully with police and put it to the detective sergeant that there was no direct evidence linking the suspect to the murder.

The senior investigating officer disagreed.

An application for bail was made, but District Judge Conor Heaney rejected that on a number of grounds.

Lynch is due to appear again before Enniskillen Magistrates' Court on 30 November.