Murder 'could be linked' to ongoing gang feud
Aidan Kelly (19), from College Avenue, Moyross, was shot from close range in a laneway at Blackwater, Co Clare, around two miles from Limerick City, after being lured there by his killers.
It was the first murder in Limerick this year and only the second in over 20 months.
An official garda spokesperson said last night that it is far too early to pinpoint a motive for the murder but they are not ruling out the possibility that the dead man was singled out by one of the feuding gangs.
Meanwhile, Mr Kelly's father, Liam, a Limerick City taxi driver, said yesterday he was stunned and saddened by his son's death.
"We are all devastated," the grieving father said.
Aidan Kelly was the second youngest of five children - four boys and one girl - and family members yesterday asked for privacy to grieve after their father issued his brief statement.
Mr Kelly, whose girlfriend Nicola Sopp, also from Moyross, is due to give birth to their first child in three weeks, was a small-time criminal who, garda sources indicated, may have supplied guns taken in robberies to both sides of the feud.
He was more closely associated with the gang responsible for the January 2003 murder of Kieran Keane.
It is also now believed that they may have intended to kill two key rivals, along with Mr Kelly, on Wednesday night.
And gardai are investigating reports that the suspects for the murder were themselves shot at in the Moyross area in the hours leading up to his murder.
There is no indication that Mr Kelly was involved in any such incident.
Mr Kelly had previous offences for car theft and other road traffic offences. He was also on bail in relation to a large number of robberies of homes in East Clare and was a suspect for a house burglary this week in which a firearm was stolen.
"He was more friendly with one side of the feud than the other and it may well be that he was seen by the latter as an easy target. It is very possible that it would not take any more than that to get him killed," a garda source said.
A post-mortem examination was being carried out last evening on Mr Kelly's body by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy, while a forensic and technical examination was also being conducted at the crime scene, which was preserved since the shooting before 11pm on Wednesday.
Mr Kelly's body was found six yards or so down a lane, at the entrance of which his Opel Astra car was abandoned.
He had been shot up to five times, including at least once to the back of the head as well as the leg and upper torso.
Gardai are examining closed circuit TV footage along his likely final route to determine if he was lured out to the Blackwater area or if he was forced to drive there by a gunman.
A rifle was found under his body.
Mr Kelly's mobile phone has been recovered and gardai are examining his call register in a bid to find any clues.
- Eugene Hogan
