GARDAI investigating the murder of Mr John Kelly in Dublin on Saturday believe his killing may have been arranged by a member of his own criminal gang.
Mr Kelly (34) was shot dead at Melrose Avenue in Clondalkin on Saturday night. Gardai hope to be able to publish a photo fit of the killer within days.
Mr Kelly is believed to have fallen out with his criminal associates after a series of robberies carried out in recent months. One of those was at the Minella Hotel in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, in February, when five armed and masked men escaped with £12,500.
Mr Kelly is suspected of involvement in that raid but may have annoyed his associates by failing to show up for another, during which a man was shot dead.
Yesterday gardai completed house to house inquiries in the area in which Mr Kelly was killed. Several witnesses have supplied descriptions of the killer, enabling gardai to work on the photo fit image.
The killer entered the house in which Mr Kelly was watching television just before 9p.m. When he opened the door to the front room Mr Kelly jumped from his seat, and the man fired a shot into his chest using a 9mm semi automatic pistol.
Mr Kelly fell to the floor and the man fired a second shot into the back of his neck.
Detectives described the murder as a "professional job". Because the gunman was not masked, they believe he did not fear being recognised and may be from outside the city.
Mr Kelly, who served part of a seven year sentence for an attempted armed robbery in the Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, was known as "Mad John" by his associates. He had a volatile personality and was considered to violence.
His death brings to 12 the number of gangland type killings all of them unsolved in Dublin since the murder of Martin Cahill "The General" by the IRA in August 1994.
The pattern of many of those was followed in Mr Kelly's murder. At least one hired gunman is believed to be operating in the city helping criminals to resolve their tends.
There is speculation that the IRA ceasefire just after Martin Cahill's death has helped fuel the spate of killings.
Some people who were involved in subversive activity before the ceasefire enjoyed an income from the IRA which helped divert them from ordinary crime. Since the ceasefire, however, many have not received payments from the IRA and may have returned to armed robbery.
Some gardai have called for a reforming of the murder squad of the 1980s. But according to Garda management there is now sufficient expertise in each Garda division to handle murder cases, and extra personnel can be assigned by headquarters if required.