Garda Donohoe murder investigation, Garda murder charges, murder suspects, Dundalk murder
The prime suspects in the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe have made prepared statements denying involvement as the investigation reaches a frustrating impasse faced with a wall of silence in south Armagh.
Gardai involved in the investigation seized mobile phones and a laptop computer in a raid on a house in Co Louth close to the Border on Friday. The investigation is centring on mobile phone traffic on the night of the murder, January 25.
The five gang members directly involved in the murder and robbery all live in south Armagh and, if arrested, will be questioned by Police Service of Northern Ireland officers. Gardai can "assist" in the interview process but not take part directly.
It is understood a number of other associates of the gang have also made prepared statements. The prepared statement is a standard procedure in Northern Ireland to pre-empt the use of the criminal law provision where police can use the "inference" of guilt of a suspect who refuses to answer questions during interrogation by police. The "right to silence" defence was removed in Northern Ireland in 1988 under the Criminal Evidence Act. If they are arrested, their signed statements can be handed to police by their solicitor, who can then sit in on the interview process, advising their clients on which questions they should or should not answer.
Gardai have amassed significant circumstantial evidence in the case, mainly involving mobile-phone traffic on January 25, the evening Det Garda Donohoe was shot dead while on cash escort duty at the Lordship Credit Union near his home on the northern outskirts of Dundalk.
However, it is understood there is as yet insufficient evidence to bring charges. Nor, at the moment, is there sufficient evidence for the suspects to be extradited to the Republic. In the event of an extradition, gardai would have to take them directly to court on charges and would not be allowed to question them under extradition laws.
Sources say that, despite appeals, no one has come forward with any incriminating witness evidence. A similar situation arose in the garda and PSNI investigation into the murder of the 21-year-old south Armagh man Paul Quinn, who was beaten to death by an IRA gang in October 2007.
Mr Quinn was beaten to death by a gang of up to 15 members of the Provisional IRA in a cowshed just inside the Republic at Oram in Co Monaghan. Despite a lengthy investigation, no one in south Armagh, where Mr Quinn lived, came forward to assist the investigation.
Garda appeals for witnesses in the Det Garda Donohoe murder investigation have also failed to elicit any significant response in south Armagh, which has a reputation for non-compliance with Northern Ireland state authority.
It is understood that gardai have received intelligence from several sources in the area about the gang, their whereabouts and activities, but no one is prepared to give evidence for fear of being branded a police informant.
The identities of the gang members were quickly established and the man who shot Det Garda Donohoe is well known to gardai and the PSNI. He is in his early twenties and lives just north of the Border in south Armagh.
It is believed he had a grievance against Det Garda Donohoe, who had investigated him for previous armed robberies in the north Louth area.
The suspect had also been arrested by the PSNI in connection with robberies and other crime in the south Down and south Armagh areas.
He is the main suspect in the shooting and injuring of a man at a fuel depot just north of the Border on the main Dundalk to Newry road last November. Again, in that incident a shotgun was used.
Det Garda Donohoe was shot dead as he alighted from his patrol car at the credit union. CCTV footage shows three men came out of hiding behind a wall as the squad car carrying Det Garda Donohoe and his colleague, Det Garda Joe Ryan, arrived at the credit union car park.
One of the men is seen pointing a shotgun and firing at close range, hitting Det Garda Donohoe in the head.
The gang then smashed a window in the squad car and threatened to kill Det Garda Ryan before assaulting two staff members of the credit union and taking a bag containing €4,000 in cash. The killers then drove north-westwards back across the Border.
The dark blue Volkswagen Passat used in the robbery was found the next day burnt out in a laneway near the south Armagh village of Darkley.
Last month, gardai questioned two men about the theft of the car from a house in Clogherhead, Co Louth, three nights before the murder. It is believed to have been stolen by a gang of professional car thieves and breakers, known as "ringers", who are based in the Dundalk area.
