Two held in connection with Belfast murder

Two people have been arrested in Belfast in connection with the police investigation into the murder this week of 53-year-old Belfast man Kevin McGuigan snr.

Mr McGuigan was shot twice at point blank range in front of his wife in Comber Court, in the nationalist Short Strand area of east Belfast, on Wednesday evening.

Detectives from the PSNI’s serious crime branch investigating the murder made two arrests on Thursday night.

A police spokesman said the two, a 44-year-old male and a 39-year-old female were arrested in east Belfast. They were released on Friday night without charge.

A number of searches were also carried out as part of the investigation into the murder.

Amid speculation that Mr McGuigan snr’s murder was connected to another killing earlier this year, Det Chief Insp McVea confirmed on Thursday that the father-of-nine had been interviewed “as a potential witness” in the investigation into the murder of former IRA man Gerard “Jock” Davison.

Gerard “Jock” Davison (47) was shot dead in the Welsh Street area of south Belfast as he was walking to work in May.

However Det Chief Insp McVea refused to be drawn on possible Provisional IRA involvement in Mr McGuigan snr’s murder adding that “speculation is not helpful and is potentially dangerous.”

Appealing to the public for information, Det McVea said: “People should allow the police investigation to take its course and provide any information they have to detectives.”