Psycho who killed his uncle is suspect in taxi man shooting
David Cully
A general view of a crime scene on the Ballycoolin Road in Finglas where Edward O'Connor was shot dead. Photo: Collins
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A psychotic 24-year-old who was convicted yesterday of murdering his uncle is also the chief suspect for shooting an innocent taxi driver less than four weeks beforehand.
Dad-of-one David Cully will be sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his uncle Edward O'Connor (41), who died from two gunshot wounds to his back in Finglas on December 15, 2013.
Cully of Kilshane Road, Finglas West, had pleaded not guilty to murdering his uncle, but guilty to his manslaughter at Ballycoolin Road on December 15, 2013, but a jury has convicted him of the more serious charge.
Cully claimed he shot Mr O'Connor "in the heat of the moment" after he commented about somebody who had made an allegation of sexual abuse against the deceased.
The allegation was investigated, but the Director of Public Prosecutions had decided not to prosecute.
The Herald can now reveal that Cully has close links to two mobsters who attempted to murder exiled crime boss, John Gilligan, in a Castleknock pub just days before he shot Mr O' Connor dead and is a key member of dangerous gang operating in the Cabra and Finglas areas of the capital's northside.
"David Cully is an extremely violent individual and to call him trigger-happy would be an understatement," a source said last night.
Evidence of this is the fact that senior sources believe Cully shot innocent taxi driver, James Boylan, on the night of November 19, 2013, in a "fit of anger" when he failed to locate his uncle in a housing estate off Ratoath Road in Finglas after he got a taxi fare from Dublin city centre.
Cully has never been charged in relation to the incident in which Mr Boylan was shot in both legs just weeks before the murder of Mr O' Connor.
"What seems to have happened with the taxi man is that Cully became extremely agitated because he could not find his uncle on the night," a source said.
"Instead, it appears as if he decided to take his anger out on the innocent driver and shot him before running away.
"This is the type of individual you are dealing with here, completely crazy," a source pointed out. "The same can be said about some of the crew that he was hanging around with before he got locked up.
"Apart from the Gilligan suspects, another of his main associates is considered one of the biggest drug dealers in Finglas," the source added.
Cully's trial heard that both he and his uncle had attended an organised 'straightener' between two other men on the day of the killing and that Cully shot his uncle in the back after the fight.
The killer told gardai that his uncle had made a comment that had caused him to lose control.
Both the deceased and the accused attended the fight in an open yard on the Sunday afternoon and David Cully brought a gun.
Remark
Mr Cully told gardai that after the fight, Mr O'Connor had made a remark about the person who had made the allegation against him. The accused said he 'just lost it' and had no intention of doing what he did.
"I don't know why I did it or what came over to me, I just fired the gun at him," he said in interview which was revealed in court.
"Well, I do know," he continued, explaining that he 'just had hatred towards him' since the allegation was made.
In it, he detailed his shooting of his uncle following an arranged fight between two other men. He said that his uncle had riled him up by making a comment about the complainant of the alleged sexual abuse.
Cully's lawyers put forward a defence of provocation because of the comment he said he heard his uncle say but this was rejected by the jury after a trial lasted for three weeks.