Gardaí are investigating if a man shot dead at the weekend was targeted in a revenge attack for the attempted murder of another criminal last year.
The dead man has been named as Michael Devoy (41), Balbutcher Drive, Ballymun, north Dublin. His was the eighth violent killing of the year to date.
He was wearing a bullet-proof vest and had been shot in the head and neck with a handgun.
Released from prison last Friday, he had been warned his life was in danger.
His killers were attempting to dump his body by the roadside at a remote location on Foxhill Road, off Bohernabreena Road, near Tallaght, west Dublin, at about 10.45pm on Saturday when detectives on a routine patrol saw a parked car and went to investigate.
Speeding from scene
As they did, two men appeared at the back of the parked vehicle and jumped into it before speeding from the scene.
The Garda car pursued but lost the vehicle and then returned to the spot where the pursuit had begun.
They found the victim’s body on the ground just off the road. Gardaí believe the men they disturbed were about to throw Devoy’s body over a nearby wall with a large drop on the other side in an attempt to conceal it.
They think he was most likely killed at the scene after being lured to meet the men or perhaps had been abducted.
The dead man was a career criminal who was involved in gangland crime and had about 70 convictions.
Underworld figures
He was blamed by other underworld figures for a shooting last year in which another criminal and innocent parties standing close to him were all wounded while leaving a party in north Dublin.
While nobody was killed, gardaí believe that shooting was part of a feud between drugs gangs in the city that deepened after last year’s attack.
They are working on the theory that Devoy’s murder on Saturday night represents a sharp escalation in the feud.
However, Garda sources stressed Devoy’s criminal background was complex and that all avenues were being explored as a possible motive for his murder.
In 2006 he was jailed for four years after he told another Ballymun man he would slash his face with razor blades, gouge his eyes out and smash his head in.
At the time he made that threat he had just been released from a jail term for threatening to kill two other men in a row over their rubbish bins.
He was suspected of firing a shot into their house but was cleared of that crime.
His sentencing hearing at that time was told he was HIV and Hepatitis C positive and had been institutionalised after spending the majority of the preceding 20 years in jail.
Thirteen months
From 1986 to the time of that court appearance in 2006, when he was aged 34 years, the longest he had been free was for 13 months. His body was left at the scene on Foxhill Road overnight into yesterday morning, when the remains were examined there by Deputy State Pathologist Dr Michael Curtis.
The body was then taken to Tallaght hospital for a postmortem, which is due to take place today.
Gardaí have appealed for anyone who was in the Foxhill Road–Bohernabreena Road area between 10pm and 11pm on Saturday to contact the investigating team at Tallaght.
They believe the car chased by gardaí was possibly a silver hatchback.
KILLINGS: VIOLENT DEATHS THIS YEAR
Tom O'Gorman (37)
Sunday, January 12th
Beaten and stabbed at his home in Castleknock, west Dublin. A 34-year-old man has been charged with murder.
Vincent Maher (29)
Saturday, January 11th
Found dead after being attacked during a party in his rented apartment in Finglas, north Dublin. A number of people have been arrested, including a 23-year-old woman.
Michael O'Dwyer (25)
Thursday, January 9th
The Kilkenny man was stabbed to death in an apartment in Tramore, Co Waterford. A man has been charged with murder.
Christie Daly (43)
Tuesday, January 7th
Found shot dead in a flooded drain near Clara, Co Offaly. Gardaí believe he had been killed up to 10 days earlier in a drug-related feud.
Thomas Horan (63)
Monday, January 6th
Found dead in his home at in Ringsend, Dublin. A man and woman have been charged with murder.
Dale Creighton (20)
Thursday, January 2nd
Died a day after being attacked on a footbridge in Tallaght, west Dublin. A number of people have been charged with various offences, including violent disorder, arising from the death.
Wayne McQuillan (30)
Wednesday, January 1st
Stabbed to death at a house in Drogheda, Co Louth. A woman has been charged with murder.
