Slain crime boss died alone as henchmen fled the scene
By Tom Brady Security Editor
Monday April 26 2010
Murdered crime boss Eamon Dunne was abandoned by his close associates as his bullet-riddled body slumped to the ground in a Dublin pub at the weekend.
Dunne had been partying with up to 40 people, including some of his known criminal associates, when he was singled out and clinically executed by a gangland hitman.
But they all fled from the scene immediately after the killer and his accomplice left the pub without going to his aid.
One eye-witness said: "Nobody even bothered to check whether he was still alive. All of those, who had been regularly seen by his side during the past few years, ran away."
A post-mortem examination later confirmed that Dunne was shot six times in the head and back with an automatic pistol.
Witnesses said the gunman knew exactly where Dunne was sitting in the Fassaugh House pub in Fassaugh Avenue, Cabra, Dublin, when he walked into the premises around 10pm last Friday.
Senior garda officers last night described Dunne's murder as "a very professional hit". Beforehand, four men pulled up outside the pub in a silver coloured saloon car similar to a VW Passat or a Ford Mondeo.
One of the gang remained behind the wheel of the car as a second stood guard outside the entrance to the pub and the others walked calmly into the bar.
The gunman, who wore dark clothing with a hoodie pulled down over his face, calmly walked into the middle of the group of partygoers as he selected his target before firing his automatic pistol. Dunne had his back to the gunman but turned as the bullets struck him, before falling.
The gunman's accomplice, who was armed with a revolver, fired a warning shot into the air. The pair returned to the car, which sped away immediately.
Last night investigating officers were closely examining footage taken from CCTV cameras in the premises in an effort to identify those involved in the shooting.
Detectives were also trying to identify those who left the pub before they could be interviewed by gardai. Investigators are drawing up a list of possible suspects but admit that at this stage of their inquiries it includes a lot of names.
Terror
Dunne had been responsible for a reign of terror in Dublin's gangland since he took charge of the remnants of the drug trafficking and armed robbery gang, after the murder of its former leader, Martin "Marlo" Hyland in a house in Finglas in December 2006.
Among the suspects are members of rival gangs in the northern and western sides of the capital, particularly those whose accomplices were shot dead on Dunne's instructions.
Dunne had been given several warnings by the gardai that his life was in danger as a result of intelligence indicating that some of those gangs were seeking revenge for the murders.
He had been most recently connected to the murders of a drug-trafficking Traveller, John Paul Joyce, whose body was found at the back of Dublin airport in January. His victims also included some of his associates including Graham McNally, who was murdered last year; and a man who was ordered to shoot Michael "Roly" Cronin in the north inner city in January 2009 and has not been seen since.
The trawl for the likely mastermind behind the shooting is also extending overseas and includes a "major league" Irish drug trafficker, who is responsible for sending large shipments for the market here from mainland Europe.
- Tom Brady Security Editor
Irish Independent
Monday, 26 April 2010
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Who shot Ireland's No 1 gang boss?
Sunday Tribune
Eamon 'the Don' Dunne was so universally hated 'literally anyone' could have killed him, say gardaí
Mick McCaffrey and Ali Bracken
Eamon Dunne: believed to have ordered 17 murders Gardaí have identified at least a dozen suspects in the murder of Eamon 'the Don' Dunne, the most notorious figure in Irish gangland history, who was shot dead on Friday night.
The 34-year-old was shot eight times as he sat in a pub in Cabra, Dublin, at around 10pm. His 17-year-old daughter was with him and witnessed the attack, which was captured on CCTV. Dunne was aware his life was in danger and had received at least 10 warnings about his personal safety from gardaí over the last two years.
He is thought to have personally ordered 17 gangland murders since 2005 and has been the gardaí's number one target for several years.
Dunne was part of the gang that murdered Latvian mother Baiba Saulite in November 2006 and also had his boss, Martin 'Marlo' Hyland, killed the following month.
He then took over the Finglas-based drugs gang and ruthlessly expanded his empire across the capital since then, stepping on the toes of several major gangland players.
The fact he was prepared to murder his own gang associates because of suspicions they might have been plotting against him added to his reputation as a ruthless hothead who would shoot first and ask questions later.
It is not thought Friday's murder will lead to any retaliation because Dunne was so despised among fellow criminals and brought so much garda attention to the underworld with the number of murders he organised.
Senior gardaí are privately expressing relief about the murder as it will reduce tensions among criminals across Dublin who feared they might be singled out by the paranoid Dunne.
Dunne was due to face trial later this year for the attempted robbery of a cash-in-transit van in Celbridge, Co Kildare, in November 2007. As well as drug dealing and armed robberies, Dunne and his gang were involved in protection rackets and ran the doors of pubs and nightclubs across west Dublin.
A source said: "Usually when you have a serious gangland player shot dead it almost immediately becomes clear who was responsible. The problem with Dunne is that he was universally hated and literally anyone could have done it. People are making comparisons to the Simpsons episode 'Who Shot Mr Burns?' because there are so many suspects, including his own gang. It will probably take weeks before things become clear."
The main line of initial inquiry being pursued is that associates of Michael "Roly" Cronin and James Maloney, who were both shot dead in a double murder in January 2009, may have murdered Dunne in a revenge assassination. But detectives simply do not know at the moment.
April 25, 2010
Eamon 'the Don' Dunne was so universally hated 'literally anyone' could have killed him, say gardaí
Mick McCaffrey and Ali Bracken
Eamon Dunne: believed to have ordered 17 murders Gardaí have identified at least a dozen suspects in the murder of Eamon 'the Don' Dunne, the most notorious figure in Irish gangland history, who was shot dead on Friday night.
The 34-year-old was shot eight times as he sat in a pub in Cabra, Dublin, at around 10pm. His 17-year-old daughter was with him and witnessed the attack, which was captured on CCTV. Dunne was aware his life was in danger and had received at least 10 warnings about his personal safety from gardaí over the last two years.
He is thought to have personally ordered 17 gangland murders since 2005 and has been the gardaí's number one target for several years.
Dunne was part of the gang that murdered Latvian mother Baiba Saulite in November 2006 and also had his boss, Martin 'Marlo' Hyland, killed the following month.
He then took over the Finglas-based drugs gang and ruthlessly expanded his empire across the capital since then, stepping on the toes of several major gangland players.
The fact he was prepared to murder his own gang associates because of suspicions they might have been plotting against him added to his reputation as a ruthless hothead who would shoot first and ask questions later.
It is not thought Friday's murder will lead to any retaliation because Dunne was so despised among fellow criminals and brought so much garda attention to the underworld with the number of murders he organised.
Senior gardaí are privately expressing relief about the murder as it will reduce tensions among criminals across Dublin who feared they might be singled out by the paranoid Dunne.
Dunne was due to face trial later this year for the attempted robbery of a cash-in-transit van in Celbridge, Co Kildare, in November 2007. As well as drug dealing and armed robberies, Dunne and his gang were involved in protection rackets and ran the doors of pubs and nightclubs across west Dublin.
A source said: "Usually when you have a serious gangland player shot dead it almost immediately becomes clear who was responsible. The problem with Dunne is that he was universally hated and literally anyone could have done it. People are making comparisons to the Simpsons episode 'Who Shot Mr Burns?' because there are so many suspects, including his own gang. It will probably take weeks before things become clear."
The main line of initial inquiry being pursued is that associates of Michael "Roly" Cronin and James Maloney, who were both shot dead in a double murder in January 2009, may have murdered Dunne in a revenge assassination. But detectives simply do not know at the moment.
April 25, 2010
'He was the worst we've seen... He had it coming
Sunday Tribune
Few will mourn the murder of Eamon Dunne, the country's most feared criminal, whose ascent up the gangland hierarchy was marked by paranoia and extreme violence. Ali Bracken and Mick McCaffrey report on the death of 'The Don'
Eamon Dunne: shot eight times in the head at a pub in Cabra on Friday night
Scene where Eamon Dunne was shot in the head eight times
Baiba Sauiite: gunned down
1 2 3 SHORTLY after the shots rang out just after 10pm on Friday night, ending the life of the country's most notorious gangland criminal, hundreds of people gathered outside the north Dublin pub where he was murdered. 'The Don' was dead, and the public post mortem about who could have ordered his murder began in earnest.
Gardaí from five different stations as well as locals from Cabra and Finglas descended upon the scene of his murder, Fassaugh House in Cabra. Some of the gathering crowd were elated by the news of the criminal's murder; others were openly mourning his death.
Thirty-four-year-old Eamon Dunne's murder was no surprise. Senior gardaí had repeatedly warned Dunne about threats to his life. The criminal was cautious about his own personal safety; he often wore a bulletproof vest and had minders whose sole job was to protect him. But a bulletproof vest and bodyguards couldn't protect him from getting shot in the head and face eight times at close range in a pub on a busy Friday night.
Dunne was the country's most ruthless and dangerous criminal. He was a man with no redeeming characteristics whatsoever. He seriously assaulted his girlfriend several years ago but she later withdrew her complaint because she was so afraid of him. He also murdered one of his closest associates over unfounded fears he was plotting against him. Dunne was hated by the vast majority of the criminal underworld. He was trigger-happy, unpredictable and paranoid. He brought unwanted garda attention to criminals all over the country by the sheer volume of murders he arranged. He had ordered 17 killings since 2005.
The Finglas native was public enemy number one for gardaí. He was a major focus of the new anti-gangland legislation. Detectives were pursuing him for directing a criminal organisation, which carries a maximum life sentence. His death will not prevent gardaí from pursuing the rest of his Finglas-based gang under the new legislation.
Suspicions
Dunne was a serious criminal for much of his adult life but came to prominence when he helped arrange the murder of his boss, drug trafficker Martin 'Marlo' Hyland, in December 2006. He arranged his killing in order to take over the sale and supply of heroin and cocaine in the north Dublin area. Hyland was murdered after suspicions emerged that he was a garda informant because detectives had seized millions of euro worth of drugs from the gang. Most of the other people Dunne ordered murdered were killed within a two-year period, four of them within four months.
Dunne's killing spree over the past two years was his attempt to use violence to assert his authority, but ultimately showed his lack of control.
In the last 18 months of his life, he no longer trusted any member of his own gang. It was only a matter of time before he was assassinated. Gardaí knew it and Eamon Dunne knew it.
When he ordered the murder of his closest lieutenant Graham McNally last January because of his intense paranoia, the writing was on the wall about his own fate. He had McNally killed when he learned that gardaí stopped a man with a gun close to the scene of a planned meeting that McNally had brokered with one of Dunne's enemies. He then ordered that McNally, a close friend as well as criminal ally, be shot in the head near Ashbourne, Co Meath, to ensure that he couldn't change sides.
Dunne had been in control of Hyland's criminal empire for less than four years before his own demise. He showed similar characteristics to his heroin trafficker boss – extreme mistrust of criminal associates matched with an ambition to be the country's richest and most feared criminal. Within those four years he ordered the murder of several up-and-coming drug dealers he considered were becoming too successful.
Dunne showed great skill in avoiding serious criminal convictions. He had only a couple of District Court convictions against his name. A large number of cases against him have been struck out.
But had a gunman not caught up with Dunne on Friday night, the law most likely would have. He was out on bail awaiting trial on a charge of conspiring to rob €1m from a cash and transit van outside a Tesco supermarket in Celbridge, Co Kildare, in November 2007.
Although he had many enemies, Dunne was keenly aware that he also needed allies within the criminal underworld. He was close to the gang led by jailed rapist Christy Griffin in Dublin's north-inner city, and had also forged alliances with 'Fat' Freddie Thompson's gang in Crumlin and was close to the Dundon-McCarthy mob in Limerick.
Highly intelligent
He was also a highly intelligent criminal. Well aware of his legal rights, every time he was stopped by gardaí he recorded the conversations on a dictaphone he always carried with him and took photos on a digital camera. He always took the gardaí's identification numbers and threatened to report them to the garda ombudsman for harassment.
He became the butt of jokes among some of his associates when gardaí discovered Viagra in his BMW during searches on several occasions. He also reported several journalists to the garda ombudsman, accusing them of colluding with senior gardaí to have him murdered. After court appearances, he followed photographers and journalists and took note of their cars' registration plates in order to intimidate them. He was also astute enough to try and bribe gardaí to find out intelligence about his enemies. Internal garda enquiries are under way to establish how successful he was at corrupting gardaí.
Detectives regarded Dunne as a violent sociopath who was capable of anything. He was considered more dangerous even than the McCarthy-Dundons in Limerick, who at least live their lives to a certain criminal code. Not so with Dunne.
He first raised eyebrows among gardaí when he was stopped at a checkpoint and a man was found bound and gagged in the boot of his car. Charges against him were later dropped because this man was too terrified to give evidence against him. As well as assaulting his girlfriend, he had a history of violence against other women and had no qualms about arranging the murder of Latvian mother-of-two Baiba Saulite.
This weekend, gangland criminals are quietly celebrating the death of Ireland's most notorious crime boss. Although many of them had working relationships with him, no-one trusted Eamon Dunne because of how quickly he could turn on his associates. Detectives have not ruled out that a member of Dunne's own gang could have organised the killing.
Senior gardaí who came into contact with Dunne are also breathing a collective sigh of relief. "Quite simply, he was the worst we've ever seen in terms of body counts and propensity for violence and mayhem," said a source. "Plain and simple, he had it coming."
For people to rejoice in someone's death seems callous. But the suffering Eamon Dunne inflicted in his short life justifies the celebrations of his victims' families. It's likely the only people who will truly mourn the death of Eamon Dunne will be members of his own family.
Body count Eamon Dunne's bloody trail of terror
1) Andrew Dillon (29), from Berryfield Road in Finglas, Dublin, died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head in August 2005. His murder was the first Dunne is believed to have ordered. The small-time criminal fell foul of the rising crime boss over a drugs debt.
2) Drug trafficker Martin 'Marlo' Hyland was murdered in December 2006 by Dunne and two of his criminal associates. Hyland was Dunne's boss. He arranged his killing in order to take over the sale and supply of heroin and cocaine in the north Dublin area.
3) Innocent apprentice plumber Anthony Campbell was murdered alongside Hyland as he was fixing a radiator in the house where Hyland was hiding out in Finglas.
4) Latvian mother-of-two Baiba Saulite (28) was gunned down outside her home in November 2006. Dunne arranged for her to be murdered on behalf of her estranged husband, Hassan Hassan.
5) John Daly (27), the criminal who became infamous after phoning Liveline from his prison cell, was shot dead in October 2007.
6) Career criminal Paul 'Farmer' Martin (30) was shot in the head and stomach at the Jolly Toper pub in Church Street, Dublin, in August 2008.
7) Graham McNally (34), from Finglas, formerly a close associate, was shot dead in January 2009.
8 & 9) Michael 'Roly' Cronin (35) and James Maloney (26), were shot dead in a car in Summerhill, Dublin, also in January 2009.
10) The gunman Dunne arranged to carry out the double murder fled to Spain in the aftermath of the killings. Christy Gilroy, in his early 30s and from Sean O'Casey Avenue, Dublin, left vital evidence behind at the scene. Dunne later tracked him down to Spain and he is missing, presumed murdered.
11) Michael Murray (41) was shot in the head at Kippure Park, Finglas, in March 2009.
12) Paul Smyth (34), from Finglas, was killed and dumped near Balbriggan, Dublin, in June 2009.
13) David Thomas (43) was shot dead outside the Drake Inn pub in Finglas in October 2009.
14) John Paul Joyce (30), the drug-trafficking Traveller, was murdered and his body dumped at the back of Dublin Airport in January 2010. He was involved in a long-running feud with Dunne and his Finglas gang.
15,16 & 17) Eamon Dunne arranged to have three other men murdered but people are currently before the courts so the cases cannot be revealed for legal reasons.
25th April 2010
Few will mourn the murder of Eamon Dunne, the country's most feared criminal, whose ascent up the gangland hierarchy was marked by paranoia and extreme violence. Ali Bracken and Mick McCaffrey report on the death of 'The Don'
Eamon Dunne: shot eight times in the head at a pub in Cabra on Friday night
Scene where Eamon Dunne was shot in the head eight times
Baiba Sauiite: gunned down
1 2 3 SHORTLY after the shots rang out just after 10pm on Friday night, ending the life of the country's most notorious gangland criminal, hundreds of people gathered outside the north Dublin pub where he was murdered. 'The Don' was dead, and the public post mortem about who could have ordered his murder began in earnest.
Gardaí from five different stations as well as locals from Cabra and Finglas descended upon the scene of his murder, Fassaugh House in Cabra. Some of the gathering crowd were elated by the news of the criminal's murder; others were openly mourning his death.
Thirty-four-year-old Eamon Dunne's murder was no surprise. Senior gardaí had repeatedly warned Dunne about threats to his life. The criminal was cautious about his own personal safety; he often wore a bulletproof vest and had minders whose sole job was to protect him. But a bulletproof vest and bodyguards couldn't protect him from getting shot in the head and face eight times at close range in a pub on a busy Friday night.
Dunne was the country's most ruthless and dangerous criminal. He was a man with no redeeming characteristics whatsoever. He seriously assaulted his girlfriend several years ago but she later withdrew her complaint because she was so afraid of him. He also murdered one of his closest associates over unfounded fears he was plotting against him. Dunne was hated by the vast majority of the criminal underworld. He was trigger-happy, unpredictable and paranoid. He brought unwanted garda attention to criminals all over the country by the sheer volume of murders he arranged. He had ordered 17 killings since 2005.
The Finglas native was public enemy number one for gardaí. He was a major focus of the new anti-gangland legislation. Detectives were pursuing him for directing a criminal organisation, which carries a maximum life sentence. His death will not prevent gardaí from pursuing the rest of his Finglas-based gang under the new legislation.
Suspicions
Dunne was a serious criminal for much of his adult life but came to prominence when he helped arrange the murder of his boss, drug trafficker Martin 'Marlo' Hyland, in December 2006. He arranged his killing in order to take over the sale and supply of heroin and cocaine in the north Dublin area. Hyland was murdered after suspicions emerged that he was a garda informant because detectives had seized millions of euro worth of drugs from the gang. Most of the other people Dunne ordered murdered were killed within a two-year period, four of them within four months.
Dunne's killing spree over the past two years was his attempt to use violence to assert his authority, but ultimately showed his lack of control.
In the last 18 months of his life, he no longer trusted any member of his own gang. It was only a matter of time before he was assassinated. Gardaí knew it and Eamon Dunne knew it.
When he ordered the murder of his closest lieutenant Graham McNally last January because of his intense paranoia, the writing was on the wall about his own fate. He had McNally killed when he learned that gardaí stopped a man with a gun close to the scene of a planned meeting that McNally had brokered with one of Dunne's enemies. He then ordered that McNally, a close friend as well as criminal ally, be shot in the head near Ashbourne, Co Meath, to ensure that he couldn't change sides.
Dunne had been in control of Hyland's criminal empire for less than four years before his own demise. He showed similar characteristics to his heroin trafficker boss – extreme mistrust of criminal associates matched with an ambition to be the country's richest and most feared criminal. Within those four years he ordered the murder of several up-and-coming drug dealers he considered were becoming too successful.
Dunne showed great skill in avoiding serious criminal convictions. He had only a couple of District Court convictions against his name. A large number of cases against him have been struck out.
But had a gunman not caught up with Dunne on Friday night, the law most likely would have. He was out on bail awaiting trial on a charge of conspiring to rob €1m from a cash and transit van outside a Tesco supermarket in Celbridge, Co Kildare, in November 2007.
Although he had many enemies, Dunne was keenly aware that he also needed allies within the criminal underworld. He was close to the gang led by jailed rapist Christy Griffin in Dublin's north-inner city, and had also forged alliances with 'Fat' Freddie Thompson's gang in Crumlin and was close to the Dundon-McCarthy mob in Limerick.
Highly intelligent
He was also a highly intelligent criminal. Well aware of his legal rights, every time he was stopped by gardaí he recorded the conversations on a dictaphone he always carried with him and took photos on a digital camera. He always took the gardaí's identification numbers and threatened to report them to the garda ombudsman for harassment.
He became the butt of jokes among some of his associates when gardaí discovered Viagra in his BMW during searches on several occasions. He also reported several journalists to the garda ombudsman, accusing them of colluding with senior gardaí to have him murdered. After court appearances, he followed photographers and journalists and took note of their cars' registration plates in order to intimidate them. He was also astute enough to try and bribe gardaí to find out intelligence about his enemies. Internal garda enquiries are under way to establish how successful he was at corrupting gardaí.
Detectives regarded Dunne as a violent sociopath who was capable of anything. He was considered more dangerous even than the McCarthy-Dundons in Limerick, who at least live their lives to a certain criminal code. Not so with Dunne.
He first raised eyebrows among gardaí when he was stopped at a checkpoint and a man was found bound and gagged in the boot of his car. Charges against him were later dropped because this man was too terrified to give evidence against him. As well as assaulting his girlfriend, he had a history of violence against other women and had no qualms about arranging the murder of Latvian mother-of-two Baiba Saulite.
This weekend, gangland criminals are quietly celebrating the death of Ireland's most notorious crime boss. Although many of them had working relationships with him, no-one trusted Eamon Dunne because of how quickly he could turn on his associates. Detectives have not ruled out that a member of Dunne's own gang could have organised the killing.
Senior gardaí who came into contact with Dunne are also breathing a collective sigh of relief. "Quite simply, he was the worst we've ever seen in terms of body counts and propensity for violence and mayhem," said a source. "Plain and simple, he had it coming."
For people to rejoice in someone's death seems callous. But the suffering Eamon Dunne inflicted in his short life justifies the celebrations of his victims' families. It's likely the only people who will truly mourn the death of Eamon Dunne will be members of his own family.
Body count Eamon Dunne's bloody trail of terror
1) Andrew Dillon (29), from Berryfield Road in Finglas, Dublin, died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head in August 2005. His murder was the first Dunne is believed to have ordered. The small-time criminal fell foul of the rising crime boss over a drugs debt.
2) Drug trafficker Martin 'Marlo' Hyland was murdered in December 2006 by Dunne and two of his criminal associates. Hyland was Dunne's boss. He arranged his killing in order to take over the sale and supply of heroin and cocaine in the north Dublin area.
3) Innocent apprentice plumber Anthony Campbell was murdered alongside Hyland as he was fixing a radiator in the house where Hyland was hiding out in Finglas.
4) Latvian mother-of-two Baiba Saulite (28) was gunned down outside her home in November 2006. Dunne arranged for her to be murdered on behalf of her estranged husband, Hassan Hassan.
5) John Daly (27), the criminal who became infamous after phoning Liveline from his prison cell, was shot dead in October 2007.
6) Career criminal Paul 'Farmer' Martin (30) was shot in the head and stomach at the Jolly Toper pub in Church Street, Dublin, in August 2008.
7) Graham McNally (34), from Finglas, formerly a close associate, was shot dead in January 2009.
8 & 9) Michael 'Roly' Cronin (35) and James Maloney (26), were shot dead in a car in Summerhill, Dublin, also in January 2009.
10) The gunman Dunne arranged to carry out the double murder fled to Spain in the aftermath of the killings. Christy Gilroy, in his early 30s and from Sean O'Casey Avenue, Dublin, left vital evidence behind at the scene. Dunne later tracked him down to Spain and he is missing, presumed murdered.
11) Michael Murray (41) was shot in the head at Kippure Park, Finglas, in March 2009.
12) Paul Smyth (34), from Finglas, was killed and dumped near Balbriggan, Dublin, in June 2009.
13) David Thomas (43) was shot dead outside the Drake Inn pub in Finglas in October 2009.
14) John Paul Joyce (30), the drug-trafficking Traveller, was murdered and his body dumped at the back of Dublin Airport in January 2010. He was involved in a long-running feud with Dunne and his Finglas gang.
15,16 & 17) Eamon Dunne arranged to have three other men murdered but people are currently before the courts so the cases cannot be revealed for legal reasons.
25th April 2010
Monday, 22 March 2010
Gangland figure shot six times in packed Dublin bar
Irish Herald
The scene yesterday at the Faussagh House pub in north Dublin where Eamon Dunne was gunned down. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA WireRelated
Call for funds to fight organised crime | 24/04/2010Call for mandatory gangland murder term | 22/03/2010Under-resourced Garda led to unsolved murders - Rabbitte | 29/03/2010Tackling organised crime is top Garda priority over next three years | 03/02/2010IRISH TIMES REPORTERS
Dublin criminal Eamon Dunne was shot six times in the head and body at close range, the preliminary results of a postmortem have indicated.
Dunne (34), the leader of one of the biggest organised crime gangs in the country, was gunned down while socialising with his daughter in the Fassaugh House pub in Cabra, north Dublin on Friday night.
Gardaí believe four men were involved in the attack. The killing is one of the most significant gangland murders of the last decade.
It is understood the shooting may have been captured on CCTV cameras.
The motive for the murder remains unclear but Dunne’s gang are the chief suspects for more gun murders than any other group in the history of Irish organised crime.
One Garda source said: “The list of suspects will be very, very long.”
Local Sinn Féin councillor Seamus McGrattan said he spoke with two shocked people who were at the function at the pub on Faussagh Avenue.
“The magnitude of what happened is affecting people. It was so easily done. The fact that you could walk straight into a pub and shoot the man several times and walk straight back out again, and do it in a couple of seconds,” he said.
Dunne, Dunsoughly Drive, Ratoath Road, Finglas, had assumed control of the major Finglas-based drugs and armed robbery gang once led by Martin “Marlo” Hyland.
Along with a gang leader involved in the Limerick feud, Dunne has been the Garda’s main gangland target of recent years.
Dunne was awaiting trial for the attempted armed robbery of a cash-in-transit van in Celbridge, Co Kildare, in November 2007.
He was arrested at the scene of the alleged attempted robbery with a number of other men after a major surveillance operation was put in place for months by key Garda specialist units.
He was a target of the Garda National Drugs Unit, the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Criminal Assets Bureau and Organised Crime Unit.
Under his leadership his Finglas gang imported vast quantities of drugs from outside the State and supplied them to smaller gangs nationwide. Dunne also smuggled weapons and was implicated in a number of armed robberies.
Dunne was suspected of helping to organise Hyland’s murder in Finglas in December 2006. Since then, the gang, under Dunne’s leadership, have been the most significant players in the drugs trade in Dublin and are the chief suspects for a string of gangland murders.
They killed young plumber’s apprentice Anthony Campbell during the same attack that claimed Hyland’s life.
In January of this year Dunne’s gang abducted and shot dead Coolock gangland figure JP Joyce and dumped his remains in a frozen ditch at the back of Dublin airport.
At least two other men have been killed by the gang this year but details cannot be disclosed for legal reasons.
Last October David Thomas (43), of Cloonlara Crescent, Finglas, was shot in the head as he smoked a cigarette outside the Drake Inn, Finglas. He was killed by Dunne’s gang in revenge for another murder.
In January 2009 the gang shot dead Michael “Roly” Cronin (35) and James Moloney (26) in Summerhill, Dublin. They are also believed to have murdered the man they paid to shoot Cronin and Moloney.
Less than two weeks later Dunne’s gang shot dead one of their own members, Graham McNally (34). He was a very close associate of Dunne’s and was killed as part of an internal gang dispute.
In March 2009, Michael Murray (41) was shot dead at Kippure Park, Finglas, as part of a row with Dunne’s gang.
In June 2009 the remains of Paul Smyth (34), Finglas, Dublin, were found dumped near Balbriggan. He too had been involved in a feud with Dunne.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Gang killer's girlfriend quizzed over trial jury list
Sunday Tribune
Names and addresses of jurors found in apartment of Brian Rattigan's partner
Mick McCaffrey, Security Editor
Natasha McEnroe with her partner, gangland murderer Brian RattiganTHE partner of convicted gangland murderer Brian Rattigan is at the centre of a major criminal investigation after the names and addresses of the jury who deliberated at his trial were found in her apartment.
Twenty-six-year-old Natasha McEnroe, from Drimnagh in Dublin, was released from garda custody late on Friday night. She had spent two days being questioned about why highly confidential personal details of the jury, who convicted her boyfriend of murder, were found in the apartment.
Her apartment in Adamstown, west Dublin, was raided by detectives last Wednesday night and the jury list, along with other confidential garda files, was discovered.
Garda commissioner Fachtna Murphy has ordered a massive investigation to find out how the list of names was made public.
Under legislation, only the defence lawyers, prosecution and the Courts Service are allowed to have possession of jury lists in order to ensure that personal details that might put jurors in danger are not leaked.
It is likely that gardaí will now offer security advice to the men and women who deliberated in the trial of Rattigan last November and December for the murder of Declan Gavin.
A previous jury who deliberated on the case could not agree on a verdict and was discharged. The murder trial was blighted by the intimidation of witnesses and gardaí and two officers were openly threatened with murder in court.
Brian Rattigan (26) was found guilty of the 2001 murder of Gavin, who was stabbed to death outside a fast-food outlet in Crumlin. It was the first murder in the so-called Crumlin/Drimnagh feud, which has claimed the lives of 16 people so far.
Fine Gael's Charlie Flanagan has described the finding of the jury list as "a very sinister development".
"It underlines reports that there have been attempts at jury intimidation. Juror intimidation is a very serious issue and it is obvious that organised criminals in Dublin and elsewhere will go to any length to subvert the criminal justice system.
"How somebody could obtain such sensitive information as to the home addresses and perhaps even contact numbers of jurors is of very serious concern. Steps should be taken by the authorities to protect jurors above all, and this certainly justifies to some extent the use of [the] non-jury special criminal court in gangland cases."
It is understood that Natasha McEnroe had no explanation as to how the confidential documents came into her apartment and she was released without charge.
She has been involved in a relationship with Rattigan for over a decade and the couple have one child together. He is serving a life sentence in prison.
She was arrested following the murder of Declan Gavin and told gardaí that the dead man "was a bleedin' rat" and whoever murdered him "should have got a motorbike and done it right. I hated him."
This is the first known case where the names and addresses of jurors in such a high-profile trial have been discovered in such circumstances and the development is of huge concern to gardaí.
During the trial of Rattigan last year, attempts were made to intimidate witnesses and gardaí involved in the case and Judge Barry White commented on this when the verdict was handed down.
Judge White jailed one Rattigan associate for contempt of court after he turned up in court each day and stared at jurors and potential witnesses in a blatant attempt at intimidation.
The judge is known to be angry about the intimidation. During a contempt of court hearing taken by Brian Rattigan against three newspapers last week, Judge White said that any offence committed by the papers "pales in comparison" to the "witness intimidation" during the Declan Gavin trial. He said he took a "very strong view" of the intimidation.
There have been widespread fears in political circles that there is the potential for jury intimidation in gangland trials. Justice minister Dermot Ahern introduced legislation last summer to allow gangland trials to take place before non-jury courts to prevent possible intimidation.
March 7, 2010
Names and addresses of jurors found in apartment of Brian Rattigan's partner
Mick McCaffrey, Security Editor
Natasha McEnroe with her partner, gangland murderer Brian RattiganTHE partner of convicted gangland murderer Brian Rattigan is at the centre of a major criminal investigation after the names and addresses of the jury who deliberated at his trial were found in her apartment.
Twenty-six-year-old Natasha McEnroe, from Drimnagh in Dublin, was released from garda custody late on Friday night. She had spent two days being questioned about why highly confidential personal details of the jury, who convicted her boyfriend of murder, were found in the apartment.
Her apartment in Adamstown, west Dublin, was raided by detectives last Wednesday night and the jury list, along with other confidential garda files, was discovered.
Garda commissioner Fachtna Murphy has ordered a massive investigation to find out how the list of names was made public.
Under legislation, only the defence lawyers, prosecution and the Courts Service are allowed to have possession of jury lists in order to ensure that personal details that might put jurors in danger are not leaked.
It is likely that gardaí will now offer security advice to the men and women who deliberated in the trial of Rattigan last November and December for the murder of Declan Gavin.
A previous jury who deliberated on the case could not agree on a verdict and was discharged. The murder trial was blighted by the intimidation of witnesses and gardaí and two officers were openly threatened with murder in court.
Brian Rattigan (26) was found guilty of the 2001 murder of Gavin, who was stabbed to death outside a fast-food outlet in Crumlin. It was the first murder in the so-called Crumlin/Drimnagh feud, which has claimed the lives of 16 people so far.
Fine Gael's Charlie Flanagan has described the finding of the jury list as "a very sinister development".
"It underlines reports that there have been attempts at jury intimidation. Juror intimidation is a very serious issue and it is obvious that organised criminals in Dublin and elsewhere will go to any length to subvert the criminal justice system.
"How somebody could obtain such sensitive information as to the home addresses and perhaps even contact numbers of jurors is of very serious concern. Steps should be taken by the authorities to protect jurors above all, and this certainly justifies to some extent the use of [the] non-jury special criminal court in gangland cases."
It is understood that Natasha McEnroe had no explanation as to how the confidential documents came into her apartment and she was released without charge.
She has been involved in a relationship with Rattigan for over a decade and the couple have one child together. He is serving a life sentence in prison.
She was arrested following the murder of Declan Gavin and told gardaí that the dead man "was a bleedin' rat" and whoever murdered him "should have got a motorbike and done it right. I hated him."
This is the first known case where the names and addresses of jurors in such a high-profile trial have been discovered in such circumstances and the development is of huge concern to gardaí.
During the trial of Rattigan last year, attempts were made to intimidate witnesses and gardaí involved in the case and Judge Barry White commented on this when the verdict was handed down.
Judge White jailed one Rattigan associate for contempt of court after he turned up in court each day and stared at jurors and potential witnesses in a blatant attempt at intimidation.
The judge is known to be angry about the intimidation. During a contempt of court hearing taken by Brian Rattigan against three newspapers last week, Judge White said that any offence committed by the papers "pales in comparison" to the "witness intimidation" during the Declan Gavin trial. He said he took a "very strong view" of the intimidation.
There have been widespread fears in political circles that there is the potential for jury intimidation in gangland trials. Justice minister Dermot Ahern introduced legislation last summer to allow gangland trials to take place before non-jury courts to prevent possible intimidation.
March 7, 2010
Crime gang caught with details of murder jury
Irish Herald
Gardai arrest imprisoned boss's girlfriend and man in bed with her
By JIM CUSACK
Sunday March 07 2010
The use of juries in gangland trials could end after gardai found a list containing the names, addresses and even telephone numbers of an entire jury, which sat on a murder trial.
The list, along with an entire set of garda documents relating to the case and other intelligence files, was found during a raid on a house last Tuesday night in south inner-city Dublin.
Gardai arrested the girlfriend of an imprisoned, major gangland figure and another man, who was in bed with her.
The names of those arrested, and the trial -- which did not result in a conviction -- cannot be revealed for legal reasons.
A major investigation has started into how the gang came to get hold of the jury details, which would have allowed them to intimidate the jury members and their families.
Among the other documents gardai found were intelligence files, which, it is believed, were stolen by a petty thief in 2008 from an unmarked garda car parked outside Blackrock garda station.
These files gave details of members of the gang led by "Fat" Freddie Thompson, who has been at the centre of the Crumlin-Drimnagh feud, which has claimed 16 lives over the past 10 years.
At the height of the killing in 2008, Thompson's gang rented apartments in the Dun Laoghaire, Sandyford and Foxrock areas in an attempt to evade detection by their enemies.
When gardai discovered the file was missing they visited each of the Thompson gang members at the addresses to warn them that their safety was endangered. At least one of the gang threatened to sue the Garda Siochana over the loss of the file. The gang eventually all moved to other addresses.
Threatening witnesses and suspected tampering with juries led Justice Minister Dermot Ahern to bring forward his anti-gang legislation last year in the Criminal Justice Amendment Act.
As well as providing for the new offence of directing a criminal gang, it included provision for criminal trials to be heard before the non-jury Special Criminal Court. Both measures had been strongly advocated by this newspaper as gangland violence has escalated to record levels.
Introducing the legislation in the Dail last July, the minister said that while it was a "big step" to use the non-jury Special Criminal Court, "a failure to take that decision would be to shirk our over-riding responsibility to ensure that the rule of law prevails".
The minister pointed out that the "threat to witnesses is already clearly accepted".
Gangs were prepared to go further than intimidation and, until the murder in Limerick of Roy Collins, whose father Steve Collins had given evidence in a criminal trial, Mr Ahern said he had resisted calls for sterner legislation, adding: "But I cannot stand by and let our criminal justice system be undermined."
He said the measures were not taken lightly "but we must bring every available legal instrument to the fight against organised crime".
The ease with which the Dublin gang (not the Thompson gang) was able to acquire a full list of jury members with all their details will also call into question the new legislation brought in at the start of last year which allows judges to permit jurors to return to their homes at night or at weekends during the period when they are deliberating a verdict.
- JIM CUSACK
Saturday, 6 March 2010
Murder trial jury names uncovered in garda raid
Irish Herald
Saturday March 06 2010
A LIST of names and addresses of a jury involved in a murder trial has been found in the home of a major gang crime suspect.
The discovery was made during a search and arrest operation this week in Dublin’s south city and has prompted a top level garda investigation.
It also raises serious questions over the integrity of the justice system, as detectives try to establish how the detailed information was obtained by criminals.
Other files including some with garda intelligence information on suspects from the Crumlin/Drimnagh feud were also found.
The jurors listed in the documents were involved in a lengthy murder trial that centred around a well- known gangster and drug dealer.
The information was so detailed that it even included phone numbers for the individual members and their home addresses.
Gardai made the worrying find when they searched the home of a close female friend of the gangster as part of an investigation into a separate murder in the city.
A source told the Herald: "This is a very serious matter which hits at the heart of our whole judicial system.
"Criminals with access to this sort of information have the capacity to undermine the entire jury system.
"A major investigation into how the leak could have occurred is under way and as few people have access to such information, it is expected that officers will get to the bottom of this quickly."
The Herald has also learned that detectives retrieved other sensitive documents, including garda intelligence files on the Crumlin/Drimnagh feud.
The files, which were stolen from the back of a patrol car in 2008, listed the names of about two dozen associates of a gang leader, who had addresses in the greater Dun Laoghaire area.
The five pages of documents included their photos, car registration numbers and addresses, mainly in the Sandyford and Stepaside areas.
They were reported to have been photocopied and distributed widely among the rival gang members.
Those listed were contacted by gardai, informed of the theft, and advised to take extra precautions for their personal safety and their property.
One of the leading crime figures threatened to sue the State for putting his life in danger through their "negligence".
Gardai have launched a major investigation into both finds and are understood to be particularly concerned about the jury list. Jurors and witnesses have been intimidated in the past during a number of trials and sources said this discovery is a seriously worrying development.
hnews@herald.ie
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