Dundon gang gave Baiba's killer a map to mum's home

By Barry Duggan

INNOCENT mother Baiba Saulite was murdered after a map to her home was given to her killer by the Dundon gang.

A criminal who was in prison at the same time as convicted murderer John Dundon gave him the map, before it was passed on by Dundon associates to the assassin.

The Herald can today reveal that Ms Saulite - a Latvian mum of two - was shot dead in 2006 after Joe Hehir, the partner of Wayne Dundon's younger sister Annabel, brought a map from Limerick to Dublin and passed it on to Ms Saulite's killer.

And it can also be disclosed that Annabel Dundon and Hehir saw the murderers of Roy Collins - Nathan Killeen and James Dillon escape from Roxboro Shopping Centre in 2009, seconds after the fatal revenge gun attack.

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Gardai in Limerick received vital information on the murder of Baiba Saulite after Hehir came forward to officers more than a year after Roy Collins' death.

Unknown to Annabel, Hehir went on to provide them with detailed statements on the murders of Collins and Saulite and his knowledge of them.

However, Hehir (23) subsequently died suddenly at his Limerick home in Raheen Square, Ballinacurra-Weston in May 2011.

His death, which was treated as an accident meant he could never provide testimony. Hehir explained to officers that a map of Saulite's home estate in Swords, Dublin was provided to John Dundon in prison by a criminal who wanted the mother murdered.

Convicted murderer, John Dundon was given the map which he then passed on to his associates in Limerick.

Eventually, the map was given in secret by an associate of the Dundon gang, who has also been imprisoned as part of the garda crackdown on organised crime in Limerick, to Joe Hehir.

Hehir and his partner, Annabel Dundon transported the map to Dublin.

The couple later broke up and unknown to Annabel, Joe Hehir went to the gardai and told officers what had happened.

He later provided a statement to officers detailing how he was given the map and by whom, and where he brought it to in Dublin. He also gave information on what occurred on the day of Roy Collins' murder.

He and Annabel Dundon were in a Statoil service station, alongside the Coin Castle amusement arcade at Roxboro Shopping Centre, when James Dillon opened fire on Roy Collins while the getaway driver, Nathan Killeen, waited outside in a stolen black Mercedes.

Annabel and Joe observed Killeen and Dillon make their escape from the scene in the stolen car which struck several parked vehicles before it was set alight.

Annabel Dundon is wanted by gardai in Limerick after she was charged with threatening to kill her brother Ger's ex-girlfiend, April Collins. She fled the country last year and a European Arrest Warrant has been issued. It is believed she is currently hiding out in London.

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Hehir was no stranger to Limerick's criminal scene. At one stage, he and Annabel were engaged to be married, but it never materialised.

On February 23, 2009, Hehir was seriously injured when he was shot in his home.

At least ten shots were fired into his home in Raheen Square, Ballinacurra-Weston and he was hit once in the back. It was suspected that a Dublin criminal who is well connected with the McCarthy-Dundon gang carried out the shooting following an internal dispute over an outstanding drugs debt between Hehir and gang members.

His brother Darren was shot a week beforehand while walking through Ballinacurra-Weston.

In 2010, Joe was arrested with Ger Dundon in Dublin while the pair were driving behind a prison van in Dublin.

hnews@herald.ie