Two questioned over 1974 murder

Police in Co Antrim are continuing to question two men arrested on Tuesday in connection with the murder of a nationalist councillor…

Police in Co Antrim are continuing to question two men arrested on Tuesday in connection with the murder of a nationalist councillor in Co Tyrone more than 30 years ago.

Patrick Kelly, a member of Omagh District Council, was shot by loyalists after he closed a pub on July 24th, 1974. Shirt buttons, bloodstains and bullet cases were found on the Badoney road near Trillick, Co Tyrone, where it is thought the UFF murdered him. Mr Kelly's body was discovered nearly a month later floating in a Fermanagh lake.

Four men were arrested on Tuesday, but two were released unconditionally last night.

The case was reopened in 2003 and headed by Andrew Hunter from the West Midlands force, who is on secondment to the PSNI. The murder is surrounded by claims of security force collusion with the UFF, a cover name for the UDA.

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The Kelly family continues to press for an independent inquiry into the murder.