Gangland gun victim shot five times in head
Tuesday September 25 2007
Gangland murder victim Derek Duffy was shot five times in the head, it emerged last night.
Detectives were examining the likelihood that he had been lured to the area where he was shot and that he knew his killer.
Teams of gardai spent yesterday checking out known Dublin haunts of the small-time criminal to establish where he had been in the final hours before his murder in Casement Park, Finglas, on the northside of the city, on Sunday morning.
Senior officers are awaiting forensic reports which may provide them with clues that could help identify the killer.
Mr Duffy (37), from St Attracta's Road, Cabra, was murdered in the front passenger seat of his black Audi car as it was parked in the housing estate around 4am. His killer appeared to have been sitting in the driving seat of the car while an accomplice could have been standing beside an open window on the passenger side.
"At this stage we don't know yet whether the killer drove his victim to Casement Park or had jumped into the car and told him to move across to the passenger seat while the second man stood at the window," a senior investigator said last night.
" But it is likely that he knew the gunman and went to Finglas for what he thought was a meeting. The killers were well prepared and after shooting him attempted to destroy any DNA evidence by setting the car alight," he added.
Mr Duffy was not known to gardai as a major player in the criminal underworld and was not connected to any of the big gangs.
Most of his associates were in their early 20s, including a relative of a former gangland boss.
Garda intelligence indicated that he had been involved in drug dealing in several parts of the northside of the city and also on the southside but officers admitted that he had not been linked in the past to any substantial drug-trafficking operations.
Examination
Investigators are awaiting a full report from assistant State Pathologist Dr Declan Gilsenan and detailed forensic and ballistic feedback from members of the Garda technical bureau from their examinations of the car.
Detectives are trying to find out if Mr Duffy had fallen out with some of his associates in recent weeks or if he owed money to members of rival gangs.
"It doesn't take much these days for guns to be used in settling an argument," one officer said.
"But this murder appears to be particularly cold-blooded and brutal".
Gardai last night renewed their appeal for help in tracing a silver-coloured saloon car, which was seen in the area around the time of the shooting. They believe the car may been used by the killers in their getaway.
They also want to track down friends or acquaintances of the dead man who had spoken to him late on Saturday night or in the early hours of Sunday in an effort to find out why he had decided to travel to Casement Park, where he had no known connections.
Gardai said there was no evidence to suggest that Mr Duffy was suspicious or worried when he arrived in the area. And they said that the black Audi car had been properly parked at the side of the road.
