Woman and two men arrested over murder of Michael Keogh

Gardaí have arrested three people, two of whom are closely associated with some members of the Hutch family, for questioning over a gun murder linked to the Kinahan-Hutch feud.

The suspects were being questioned about the murder of Michael Keogh in Dublin almost two years ago.

The two men detained have themselves been targetted in the feud, though effots by the Kinahan cartel to kill them were thwarted by the Garda.

The third person being detained is a woman who is in a relationship with one of the two men.

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Keogh was shot dead after getting into his car in the Sheridan Court flats complex on Dorset Street on May 31st, 2017. He had just left his home and gotten into his car to drive to his new job when he was shot inside the vehicle.

Nobody heard the gunshot and the dead man’s body lay in the vehicle for some time before it was spotted by council workers and the alarm was raised.

Keogh had previously been involved in crime and with the Kinahan gang but, while still friendly with some members at the time of his murder, was looking to restart his life.

The 27-year-old father of two took to Facebook just before being murdered saying: “New job new start hopefully all goes well”. He was dead just over 24 hours later.

The gunman and a getaway driver escaped the murder scene in a car which they abandoned in a laneway off Clonliffe Avenue about 1km away.

It was found partially burnt out with a firearm, believed to be the murder weapon, inside.

Feud murder

While nobody has been charged in relation to the murder, the Garda investigation into it has continued.

Gardaí are now convinced it was a feud murder and that associates of Gary Hutch (34), the feud’s first victim, were behind the killing of Keogh.

Gardaí moved in and detained the suspects at address in Dublin’s north inner city before dawn on Wednesday.

A team of armed gardaí was called in to aid the operation as the arrest of one of the suspects in particular was regarded as a security risk that may be met with a disturbance.

However, that man was taken from his home without incident. He has been the target in failed murder attempts a number of times since the Kinahan-Hutch feud claimed its first victim, Gary Hutch, in Spain in September, 2015.

The same man has been put under surveillance and followed in Dublin, other parts of Ireland and abroad by criminals trying to shoot him dead on behalf of the Kinahan cartel.

However, he was being qizzed on Wednesday about what he knows, if anything, about the gun attack that claimed the life of Michael Keogh.

Gardaí confirmed in a brief statement on Wednesday evening that three people had been detained; two men in their 40s and a woman in her 30s.

International trafficker

“One man and one woman are detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice, 2007 the second man is detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984. They are detained at Dublin City centre Garda stations,” the statement said.

The Kinahan-Hutch feud began when Gary Hutch, a nephew of criminal Gerry Hutch, attempted to shoot dead Daniel Kinahan, the son of international drugs trafficker Christy Kinahan, in Spain in 2015.

However, Gary Hutch botched the shooting and wounded another man in error.

The Hutch family then negotiated with the Kinahan cartel, paying them €200,000 in the apparent belief it would guarantee Gary Hutch’s safety.

However, he was murdered soon after he returned to Spain. Since then, some 19 people have died in feud-related gun attacks.

A major Garda operation is continuing in Ireland into the feuding gangs, mainly focussed on Dublin, and international police forces are tracking some of the gangland criminals involved in the feud who have moved abroad.