Irish man arrested in Portugal in connection with John George murder named

They also confirmed Jonny Smyth (26) had been held in the northern Portuguese city of Braga and that he would appear before court tomorrow for an extradition hearing ahead of his expected forced return to Spain in the coming weeks.

The murder suspect was held by the Polícia Judiciária in Portugal yesterday on an international arrest warrant.

Smyth is currently believed to be in custody at a police station in Braga.

A spokesman for Portuguese police force said: “The Judiciary Police, through the Braga Criminal Investigation Department, located and arrested a foreign national in the city of Braga, against whom the Spanish authorities had issued European and international arrest warrants, because he was suspected of committing a murder offence in Alicante.

“The 37-year-old victim was reported missing in Alicante on 14 December 2024, but his body was found in the middle of January in an agricultural area in Rojales.

“Since the beginning of the Spanish authorities' investigation, there have been strong indications of the existence of a murder offence with the concealment of a corpse, and of the suspect's involvement in these events, who, immediately afterwards, fled to third countries, supposedly located in the Middle East and Asia.

“The suspect's location in Portugal was expedited with the prompt intervention of the Public Prosecutor's Office - the Specialised Violent Crime Section of the DIAP in Guimaraes.

“In Spain, in addition to this man, another citizen has already been arrested for co-authoring the acts.

“The events had great public repercussions in Spain and also in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and were widely publicised in the media in both countries.

“The detainee, aged 26, will be brought before the Guimaraes Court of Appeal with a view to assessing his detention and the request for his extradition to the Kingdom of Spain.”

Today's News in 90 seconds - 26th March 2025

Well-placed sources confirmed only one person had been arrested in Portugal, contradicting earlier reports two had been held.

The source confirmed the arrested man was Jonathan Alan Smyth, who goes by the name Jonny Smyth, and said the detention happened yesterday.

A Spanish court official, who confirmed on January 21 an international arrest warrant had been issued for the man suspected of murdering John George, said today: “I can confirm Court of Instruction Number Two in Torrevieja which is investigating the homicide has received police information about the arrest of the wanted man in Portugal.

“The court is currently in the process of translating the necessary investigation documentation into Portuguese so that the Portuguese authorities can decide on the personal situation of this detainee and his subsequent handover to the Torrevieja court.”

It has also been revealed that Smyth was held at an Airbnb in the northern Portuguese city of Braga where he was staying with his girlfriend, it emerged today.

Well-placed sources said the 26-year-old was using his own passport but his partner had made the booking.

The Airbnb has not been named.

The police insider said: “We believe he had been at the Airbnb for around a month. We don't know where he was before that.

“He was travelling on his own passport and wasn’t using fake ID but his girlfriend had made the booking and it wasn’t made in his name.

"While he was on the run he tried to fool the Spanish authorities into thinking he was somewhere in the Middle East with photos he posted online.

“He was held yesterday morning in his room. He didn’t resist arrest.”

Another well-placed source said: “The girlfriend was not wanted by Spanish authorities and she wasn’t arrested.

“I don’t know her whereabouts at the moment but the Spanish police did not seek her detention so she is free to go where she chooses.”

Smyth is expected to be asked tomorrow when he appears in court whether he consents to being extradited.

The hearing will take place in private and no press or public will be allowed into the courtroom as is normal in Portugal where only trials take place in public.

A court expert in extraditions said: “If he consents to being returned to Spain extradition will happen very quickly.”

After returning to Spain Smyth will almost certainly be remanded in prison pending an ongoing criminal probe after appearing before the investigating judge in Torrevieja.

That court appearance would also take place behind-closed-doors.

Belfast man John George vanished on December 14 last year and relatives reported him missing when he failed to catch a scheduled flight home four days later.

By December 23 his family had launched a GoFundMe campaign to aid a search, voicing concerns he had been the victim of a crime.

John’s brother Darren travelled to Alicante to help in the search with their parents, Billy and Sharon, and sister Courtney and Caitlin, along with up to 50 friends and wider family from Northern Ireland.

Members of K9 Search And Rescue NI, a volunteer canine search team, also spent several days assisting with the wide-scale operation to find the missing man.

His decomposing body was discovered on January 7, hidden under overgrown lemon trees around five miles from the town of Rojales near Torrevieja.

A man arrested later the same day on suspicion of homicide was hauled to court on January 10 after nearly 72 hours in police custody.

He told the judge he was being scapegoated because John’s family had named him on social media as one of the suspects.

His Costa Blanca-based defence lawyer Manuel Ramon Rives also attributed the decision to detain him to his “recent friendship” with a man he said police were hunting as the alleged perpetrator.

John’s dad has named and pictured a 26-year-old British-based expat on his social media he claimed was the main suspect before Spanish authorities confirmed they had issued three separate arrest warrants in January.

That man has previously been described as being among the last people to see John George alive.