UNMASKED GUNMEN unleashed a volley of shots into a car on a quiet cul-de-sac and killed two gang members before calmly getting into their car and driving away, an inquest heard yesterday.
Residents of the Carrigwood Estate in Firhouse, south Dublin, initially thought the shots which killed Darren Geoghegan (26), Galtymore Drive, Drimnagh, and Gavin Byrne (21), Windmill Park, Crumlin, on November 13th, 2005, were “bangers”. Their deaths are believed to be linked the Crumlin-Drimnagh gang feud.
The two men had driven into the cul-de-sac in a Lexus car when they were attacked. Resident Helen Lowry told the inquest she had gone outside to investigate a noise when she saw a car driving out of the estate at normal speed. She saw the Lexus and, on approaching it, saw Geoghegan’s lifeless body. Byrne’s body was not discovered until gardaí arrived.
In a deposition read out in Dublin Coroner’s Court, the late Mary Walsh said she heard bangs as she stepped outside her house. She continued onto the street and saw two men make their way from the Lexus to a car parked outside her home. Neither was wearing a mask and Ms Walsh was able to provide a detailed description of one of them to gardaí.
Ms Walsh had not realised a shooting had taken place until she returned two hours later to find gardaí had sealed off the scene.
The getaway car, stolen in Northern Ireland days before the murders, was found burning in a nearby estate soon afterwards. Two Glock handguns used in the shooting were found in the car.
Deputy State Pathologist Michael Curtis carried out the postmortems and found both men had died as a result of multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
Det Insp John Walsh said gardaí had launched a joint inquiry into the killings with the PSNI and eight arrests had been made on both sides of the Border. There was insufficient evidence to prepare a file for the Director of Public Prosecutions and the case remained open, he said.
Frank Byrne, Gavin Byrne’s father, asked whether there had been a third person in the car when the shooting took place. Det Insp Walsh said gardaí believed all shots were fired from outside the vehicle. Coroner Dr Brian Farrell called on any witnesses who might have further evidence to come forward. The jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing by persons unknown.