GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the murder of a man who was stabbed to death after complaining about noise coming from a party believe the suspected killer may now be on the run abroad.
The victim, Warren O’Connor, a 24-year-old former soldier from Coolock, Dublin, was stabbed to death in the early hours of Saturday, January 16th.
Gardaí believe the killer was accompanied from the murder scene by three other men. The getaway car has not yet been found.
Garda sources said the three people who were with the killer are aware they were being sought by gardaí. It is feared the suspected killer has fled the country.
Mr O’Connor had gone to the aid of a friend at the Grattan Wood apartments development, Hole in the Wall Road, Donaghmede, Dublin 13, on the night he was killed. His friend was in fear of a number of men who were at a party in a neighbouring apartment because of noise coming from the apartment.
When Mr O’Connor arrived at the scene he and a number of other people went to the apartment to ask the partygoers to keep the noise down.
A row broke out and Mr O’Connor then left the complex with the friend who had phoned him, that man’s pregnant partner, and a three-year-old child.
As they were driving away, they were followed by some of the partygoers in another car. The car Mr O’Connor was in was rammed from behind several times.
The two vehicles came to a stop and Mr O’Connor was stabbed in the chest by a man from the other car. The killer and his associates then ran from the scen, abandoning the vehicle. The men went back into the apartment block and then left in another car. The suspect and the men he was with are from Coolock.
Chief Supt Gerry Phillips of Ballymun Garda station said that while a number of people at the party had been interviewed, the murder investigation had been hampered by a lack of co-operation. However, he was expecting a breakthrough in the case.
Chief Supt Phillips was speaking at a press briefing on Mr O’Connor’s murder and the killing of two other men in north Dublin in recent weeks.
He said gardaí investigating the murder of gangland figure JP Joyce were satisfied with progress. “We expect progress to be slow but we do expect progress. We can be very patient.”
Joyce (30) was last seen alive getting into a car on the night of January 7th outside the house he shared with his partner and two children at Ferrycarrig Road, Coolock. His remains were found in a ditch at the back of Dublin airport two days later. He had been shot in the head.
Joyce’s brother, Tommie, was shot dead last June as part of a drugs feud in Coolock. Gardaí now believe JP Joyce’s murder may be linked to that of his brother’s.
They believe a gang from Coolock and one from Finglas, who work closely together, killed both brothers.
Gardaí in north Dublin are also investigating the murder of petty criminal Noel Deans (27), who was shot in the head on January 16th, at Ferrycarrig Road. He was killed while walking from the nearby Priorswood Inn to a house where his partner and child live. Chief Supt Phillips said the motive for the killing remained unclear.