The new ITV documentary No Body Recovered tells the story of Mike O’Leary.
Mike disappeared in January 2020, and it quickly spiralled into a murder investigation.
But what really happened to Mike, and has his killer been caught?
What happened to Mike O’Leary?
Father of three Mike O’Leary disappeared in January 2020.
On the night he went missing, his family received a worrying text.
“I’m so sorry x,” said the out of character message.
It was then that Mike’s eldest, Wayne, immediately sensed that something was very, very wrong.
“Dad was a proud Welshman. I didn’t believe for a minute that he would send me a message like that in English – especially if this was the last message he was ever going to send,” said Wayne.
Police eventually tracked Mike’s phone down to a derelict farm owned by his friend, Andrew Jones.
Detective Chief Inspector Paul Jones said that Andrew was a “nightmare” of a suspect for police.
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“But he’s a builder, he has access to machinery, access to ongoing building sites, building works, foundations, his capability to dispose of a body is – I would say – probably the most difficult one to investigate,” he said.
A police sniffer dog discovered two shirt buttons in gravel which, following examination, revealed a tiny trace of blood.
It led to Andrew confessing that he was the last person to see Mike alive.
No Body Recovered on ITV: What happened to Mike’s body?
Andrew, 53, from Carmarthen, lured his long-term friend to a remote farm after he discovered that Mike was having an affair with his wife, Rhiannon.
He stole his wife’s phone and pretended to be her to get him to come to the farm.
Andrew then shot his friend dead, and incinerated his body.
The only part of Mike’s body that was discovered was a four-inch-long piece of a human’s small intestine. Forensics confirmed it matched Mike’s DNA.
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“I was glad because it was a piece of Dad,” said Wayne. “When it came, it confirmed that it had happened, that he killed Dad.”
Last year, Mike’s three sons, Wayne, Phil and Simon and his wife Sian, watched as Andrew was found guilty of murder and sentenced to 30 years behind bars.
Andrew and Mike had been friends for over two decades.
“When we saw him in the court, he saw us and put his head straight down, and that’s it, he’s a coward,” Wayne told Wales Online.
Where is Andrew Jones now?
Jones was sentenced by Mrs Justice Jefford at Swansea Crown Court after being convicted of murder by a majority 11 to one verdict in October 2020.
He was jailed for life and Mrs Justice Jefford set a minimum term of 30 years which Jones must serve before he can be considered for parole. Sentencing, the judge described the killing as
“a planned ambush”.
No Body Recovered airs July 29 on ITV at 9pm
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