GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the murder of 41-year-old convicted drug dealer Gerard Stanton in Cork city have begun examining CCTV footage from petrol stations in the greater Cork area. They are hoping to identify his killers from footage of the van they used.
Mr Stanton was shot twice in the chest and side from close range by a gunman wearing a balaclava and armed with a sawn-off shotgun. The victim was about to get into his Audi car outside his rented home at Westlawn, off Sarsfield Road, on Cork’s southside last Wednesday night when the attack happened.
Gardaí, under Supt Charlie Barry of Togher Garda station, believe the gunman walked from a red 92 C-registered Toyota Liteace van that had been parked at the side of the terrace of houses where Mr Stanton lived, and that the gunman returned to this van after the shooting.
The van was found burned out in a field at Castlewhite, in Waterfall, some four miles from the scene of the shooting. The Irish Times understands gardaí have traced the van to Carrigaline, where they believe it changed ownership less than 24 hours before the murder.
Detectives hope the footage might show the van being used during those 24 hours, and that they will be able to identify the occupant or occupants. They are still trying to establish what route the van took after the shooting.
While gardaí are keeping an open mind on motives for the murder, including the possibility that he fell foul of a drug gang from outside of Cork, it is understood they are examining the possibility that it may be the result of a personal or local dispute.