MARK DWYER (23), a heroin dealer in Dublin's north inner city, was present when another criminal, William "Jock" Corbally, met his end in some of the remaining Undeveloped green fields of west Dublin eight months ago, according to gardai.
Corbally had fallen foul of P.J. Judge, the criminal shot dead in a public house car park in Finglas last Saturday week.
Judge, Dwyer and a third man waylaid Corbally, beat him and took him to a field in Baldonnel where they then beat him to death.
Information suggests to gardai that Judge finished Corbally off with a spade.
Corbally's body has never been found. He is believed to be buried near Straffan but searches have so far failed to unearth his remains.
At the weekend, gardai examined several theories about Dwyer's death.
One was that he was killed by other criminals avenging Corbally's death and who had also killed Judge.
A part of this theory is that those seeking to avenge the murder of Corbally, a gregarious, well-known figure in north-west Dublin, enlisted the help of a local IRA figure.
This man, who lives in Finglas, is very dangerous and an experienced gunman.
The notion of experienced paramilitary involvement is given added weight by the manner of Judge's killing. He was shot once in the side of the skull about an inch above the right ear. This bullet traversed the centre of the brain. When Judge slumped on to the steering wheel, the gunman leaned into the car and fired through the back of the skull. This also travelled through the centre of the brain.
This killing method is similar to that employed by trained military elite units such as the Special Air Services and Army Ranger Wing. The three IRA members killed in Gibraltar in March 1987 all had head wounds where bullets traversed the centre of their brains.
The IRA is one of the few other groups with people experienced in this type of killing. However, there are other republican paramilitaries with considerable killing experience.
There are several former Irish National Liberation Army men in Dublin probably capable of such "professional" killing techniques.
Dwyer was also abducted by men who seemed to fashion themselves along paramilitary lines, wearing masks and nondescript clothing.
At the same time, all this know-how is probably well within the reach of Dublin's hardened, professional criminal element.
Garda sources in west Dublin said the man suspected of shooting Ms Violet Blackburn and narrowly missing her child in Ballyfermot on Wednesday night, is aged 22.
From Gallanstown, Ballyfermot, he is one of the city's richest heroin dealers.
Gardai found £110,000 of this man's takings during a raid on the home of an Air Corps member in Tallaght two months ago. At first it was thought the Air Corps man was minding the money for a major criminal, such as the man suspected of ordering Veronica Guerin's murder.
It was, however, being held for the Gallanstown drugs dealer.
It is also believed he has access to as many as a dozen handguns and that he used such a weapon on Wednesday in an attempt to kill Ms Blackburn's companion. The attack left Ms Blackburn with two serious gunshot wounds. Her companion was untouched.
Ms Blackburn's shooting has no connection with the murders of Judge and Dwyer. Last week was simply another bad week for gangland violence in Dublin.
It is understood that by yesterday Garda thinking on the Judge and Dwyer murders was coming to the view that the city is experiencing yet another round of killings over drugs money.
One report suggested that Dwyer owed £40,000 to a major drug supplier in the city.
Owing such a debt might explain his abduction, savage two-hour beating, and killing.
Had the IRA wanted to execute a drug dealer it would have been simpler and safer to have shot him dead in the Ballybough flat from which he was taken.
It is also believed that Dwyer suddenly became vulnerable when his associate, Judge, was killed.
Judge was an extremely violent criminal and would have provided a young dealer like Dwyer with a good measure of protection from other criminals.
The two murders and the injuring of Ms Blackburn occur at a time when there seems to be a rush to seize the territory left vacant since gardai dismantled the crime organisation set up by the man believed to have ordered Ms Guerin's death.
With this man now out of the State, and the scattering of his "lieutenants", there are potentially massive drugs profits to be claimed by his successor.
As Dublin's ruthless young criminals vie for the prime position, there may be more murders.