A 39-year-old Donegal man was last night charged with murdering his estranged wife.
Mr Gary McCrea from Ballybulgen, Lahey, Co Donegal, made no comment when charged with the murder of Ms Dolores McCrea (36), a mother of four.
Ms McCrea's body was found at a house in Ballintra on Thursday, January 22nd. She had been missing since the previous Tuesday.
A crowd of some 200 people surrounded the car in which he was taken away after being remanded in custody by Judge Mary Devins after a special sitting of the court at 9 p.m. last night.
Det Garda Dessie Sheridan gave evidence of arrest, stating that he had arrested the defendant at Letterkenny Garda Station at 6.12 p.m. under section 4.3 of the Criminal Law Act 1987.
The detective told the court he had charged Mr McCrea at 8.02 p.m. with the murder of Ms McCrea. After being cautioned, the defendant made no reply.
Inspector Gerry Curley made an application that the defendant be remanded in custody until Wednesday, February 4th when he will appear at Donegal District Court. Defence solicitor Mr Frank Dorrian queried the times of arrest and charge before agreeing to the inspector's application. An application for legal aid was not objected to.
Outside the court, a large Garda presence cordoned off an unmarked car and held back crowd of some 200 people that surged forward and hurled abuse at the defendant as he was led away.