Three arrested over McGuigan murder in Belfast

Three men have been arrested by detectives investigating the murder of former Provisional IRA member Kevin McGuigan.

PSNI detectives investigating the killing in the Short Strand area of Belfast last week arrested the men on Tuesday.

The 53-year-old was shot in the head and chest at point blank range as he got out of his car in Comber Court last Wednesday night.

Last week, a man and a woman arrested as part of the overall investigation into the murder were released unconditionally.

On the latest arrests on Tuesday, Detective Chief Inspector John McVea said: “The men, aged 53, 44 and 41 were arrested at various locations in the greater Belfast area this morning. All three have now been taken to the Serious Crime Suite for questioning.”

Suggestions have been made that Mr McGuigan was a chief suspect in the murder of former IRA man Gerard ‘Jock’ Davison in May but DCI McVea previously said he was interviewed “as a potential witness as opposed to a potential suspect”.

Unionist politicians have said if the Provisional IRA is found to have been involved in Mr McGuigan’s murder it will have “repercussions”.

The funeral of Mr McGuigan, a father-of-nine, is to take place in Belfast later on Tuesday.