Death of Keane Mulready-Woods

Keane Mulready-Woods was an Irish teenager who disappeared in January 2020 whose body was then dismembered in Drogheda, Co. Louth, remains were found in Dublin, Ireland the following week.[1] He had reportedly been involved in the mugging of convicted criminal Robbie Lawlor.[2]

Disappearance

He was last seen around 6 pm on 12 January 2020 at St Dominics Bridge in Drogheda. He had recently called his mother to ask her to leave money out for his taxi home later that evening. [3] The bag also contained flip-flops, which were taken as a warning not to cross Lawlor, whose flip-flops had been stolen in the mugging.[2]

Human remains found

Coolock

On 13 January 2020 a local man found a sports bag with human remains at the junction of Moatview Gardens and Moatview Drive in Coolock.[4] The bag had been thrown from a dark coloured passing car. [5] The remains were found around 10pm.[6]

Drumcondra

Further human remains, believed to be a head and hands, were found in a burnt-out car in Trinity Terrace, Drumcondra in the early hours of Wednesday 15 January.[7][8]

Identification

On the night of the 15th of January, Gardaí confirmed that DNA tests had confirmed that the limbs found in Coolock were those of Keane Mulready-Woods.[9] On Friday 17 January Gardaí confirmed that the partial remains found in the car had been identified as those of Keane Mulready-Woods.[1]

Aftermath

Garda investigation

Gardaí are investigating links between the death of Keane Mulready-Woods and a criminal feud in Drogheda which has claimed three lives.[9] There are incident rooms in Coolock, Mountjoy and Drogheda Garda stations with the investigation being coordinated from the latter.[1]

In the early hours of 20 January, a main suspect in the case was arrested.[10] Gardaí had watched both Dublin Airport and Dublin Port closely because they feared he would flee to England.[10] He was expected to appear in court on charges of breaching bail conditions.[10] The arrest warrant is not related to the death of Keane Mulready-Woods, but to a separate case.[10] He is connected to a crime feud in Drogheda.[10]

Gardaí suspect that the killers intended to dump the remains in front of the homes of the leaders of the gang the teenager was associated with as a warning.[11] They also suspect that this plan was abandoned after those with the remains nearly encountered Gardaí.[11]

Gardaí believe the deceased was killed in Drogheda and have searched the banks of the River Boyne near to a house where they suspect he was killed.[11]

Detectives working on the case have no cause of death to base their inquiry on as the fatal injury is believed to have been dealt to the torso, which was still missing as of February 2020.[11] They have not ruled out the possibility that the torso was disposed of deliberately so as to frustrate the investigation.[11]

Prosecutions have proven to be difficult if remains of the deceased are not found or only partial remains have been found.[11] It has been done in the murder of Elaine O'Hara but Gardaí described that case as an exception and that prosecutions in such cases were "extremely difficult".[11]

Two men were arrested on 20 February.[12]

Funeral

A funeral was held on Thursday 13 February 2020 at Holy Family Church, Ballsgrove, Drogheda.[13] Father Phil Gaffney conducted the funeral service and condemned the killing as well as the feud during the homily.[13] He described the deceased as "young and naive enough to fall in with the wrong people, not knowing or anticipating the dire consequences".[13] He also said "I hope that his death will be a warning to other young teenagers who are being groomed by the ruthless criminals; that the promise of money and gifts will inevitably end in tragedy".[13] He also criticised people who took illegal recreational drugs as fuelling the violence of the feud.[13]

There was a significant Garda presence at the funeral.[13] Several hundred people attended the funeral mass.[13] Gardaí had requeseted that media did not enter the church during the funeral service.[13] Media had gathered outside.[13]

When the funeral cortege arrived, a young man broke off from the crowd outside the church and approached the media, telling them to leave.[13] He said if they were still outside the church after the funeral was over he would break their cameras.[13] After the funeral, two men ran over to the media calling them "scum" but they were stopped by Gardaí.[13]

The deceased was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Drogheda.[13]

Gardaí were prepared to keep an eye on social gatherings related to the funeral after the burial.[13]

At the time of his funeral his torso had not been recovered.[11]

Charges

On 28 February 2020 a 50 year old man was charged with impeding the apprehension or prosecution of another person in relation to the death of Keane Mulready-Woods.[14][15]

Belfast shooting

On 4 April 2020 Robbie Lawlor, aged 36, was shot around 11:50am outside a house in Etna Drive, Ardoyne in north Belfast.[16][17][18][19][20] He was suspected of ordering the murder and dismembering of Keane Mulready-Woods.[16][17][18] The man was originally from Dublin, but had lived in County Meath and was heavily involved in organised crime, including the Drogheda feud.[16][17][18] He had travelled to Belfast the morning he was shot and the PSNI and Garda Síochána believe he had travelled to Belfast in the hours before he was shot, possibly to collect debts.[16][17][18] As well as being a suspect in the death of Keane Mulready-Woods he was suspected of being responsible for a number of other killings.[16][17][18] He had been threatened by one faction in the Drogheda feud but was also at odds with a major Dublin criminal who is suspected of several murders including that of Alan Ryan.[16][17][18] Three men suspected of the murder were arrested and questioned by the PSNI at Musgrave police station.[16][17][18]

Three suspects were arrested on Saturday, a fourth was arrested on Sunday.[19]

The shooting was condemned by Detective Sergeant Jason Murphy, as a murder, as a danger to the local community and due to the additional pressures caused by coronavirus pandemic.[16][17][18] The shooting was also condemned by Minister for Justice Naomi Long and Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly.[16][17][18]

Lawlor was well known to Gardaí for being involved in serious and organised crime.[20] He had over 100 convictions and had been released from prison in December 2019.[20] He had been warned by Gardaí that his life was in danger before he went to Belfast.[20]

Lawlow was mugged after leaving a gym in December 2019, which was filmed by his assailants.[2] The assailants stole his gym bag and flip-flops and posted photos of them wearing the latter after the mugging.[2] The assault was allegedly at the behest of a criminal foe of Lawlor.[2] The presence of flip-flops in the bag of Keane Mulready-Woods remains dumped in Coolock was widely interpreted as a threat not to cross Lawlor.[2]

The PSNI suspect that a single gunman shot Lawlor.[19]

gollark: And prison has free food and housing!
gollark: Not really? It does NOT seem very practical.
gollark: Or, well, they can, but it won't do much.
gollark: Besides, one person can't just go "hmm yes I do not like this" and revolt one day.
gollark: > Ok, if everything is so shitty, why having you revolted against your government yet?ah yes, just revolt against your government if problems are problematic.

References
  1. "Human remains found in car confirmed as being those of Keane Mulready-Woods". Irish Examiner. 17 January 2020. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  2. Carroll, Rory; McDonald, Henry (10 April 2020). "Police fear gangland feud from Irish Republic now being fought in Belfast". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  3. Murray, Sean (15 January 2020). "Gardaí name victim discovered in Coolock on Monday as 17-year-old Keane Mulready-Woods". theJournal.ie. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  4. O'Connell, Patrick (2 February 2020). "'I opened the bag and saw a human leg, arms and flip-flops' - man who found remains of Keane Mulready Woods". Sunday World. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  5. Reynolds, Paul (14 January 2020). "Human remains found in bag in Dublin estate". RTE News. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  6. O'Keefe, Cormac (14 January 2020). "Gardaí hoping DNA test will identify body parts found in Dublin". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  7. O'Keefe, Cormac (15 January 2020). "'New low': Remains found in burnt out car believed to be decapitated head". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  8. O'Keefe, Cormac (16 January 2020). "Cormac O'Keeffe: Gang bosses see young operatives as 'expendable'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  9. O'Keefe, Cormac; McEnroe, Juno (16 January 2020). "Teenager's murder 'savage, shocking'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  10. Foy, Ken (20 January 2020). "Suspect in Keane Mulready-Woods murder arrested after major garda manhunt". Irish Independent. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  11. Lally, Conor (14 February 2020). "Missing torso a setback to Mulready-Woods murder inquiry". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  12. https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2020/0220/1116475-keane-mulready-woods-investigation/
  13. Lally, Conor (13 February 2020). "'Appalling wickedness and evil': Funeral of Keane Mulready-Woods takes place". The Irish Times. Retrieved 15 February 2020.
  14. Gaffney, Sharon (28 February 2020). "Man in court over murder of Keane Mulready-Woods". RTÉ News. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  15. "Man charged in connection with murder of Keane Mulready-Woods". TheJournal.ie. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
  16. Lally, Conor; Ferguson, Amanda (4 April 2020). "Man shot dead in Belfast was suspect in Keane Mulready-Woods murder". The Irish Times. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  17. Halpin, Hayley (4 April 2020). "Man shot dead outside house in Belfast was suspect in Mulready-Woods case". TheJournal.ie. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  18. Reynolds, Paul (4 April 2020). "Man shot in Belfast was suspect in Mulready-Woods murder case". RTÉ News. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  19. "Robbie Lawlor: 'Single gunman' murdered Dublin man in Ardoyne". BBC News. 5 April 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  20. Reynolds, Paul (5 April 2020). "Teenager among those being questioned over murder of Dublin criminal". RTE News. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
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