The RUC has appealed for public assistance in apprehending the killers of Newry drugs-dealer Brendan "Speedy" Fegan. He was singled out and shot by two men at the Hermitage Bar in Newry on Sunday. Detectives are trying to determine whether the IRA or rival drugs-dealers may have been involved in the killing.
RUC sources said Mr Fegan's killers acted in a "clinical and calculated" manner. They said he was shot up to 15 times in the head and chest. "When they sing led him out, they just kept shooting him at close quarters," one source said.
Some witnesses said the killers wore disguises, although other witnesses said they did not try to conceal their identities. "There is some conflict in what we're being told and we need public help to clear up a number of matters," the RUC source said.
The RUC would also be checking a report in yesterday's Irish News that just before he died, Mr Fegan (24) blamed the IRA for shooting him. "It's the Provies, it's the Provies," were his last words, according to some customers in the bar where he was shot, the paper reported.
One republican source however queried how Mr Fegan could have been able to speak, having been shot so many times. Mr Brendan Curran, a local Sinn Fein councillor, said that contrary to some reports, Mr Fegan was not involved in the Provisional republican movement. He again rejected suggestions that the IRA might have killed Mr Fegan, who was one of the North's main drug-dealers.
"The IRA is not going to break the ceasefire and collapse the whole agreement over Brendan Fegan," said Mr Curran. "Despite sensational media reports, there is absolutely no evidence to link republicans to the killing of Brendan Fegan," he added. "He was a well-known drug-dealer and numerous attempts had been made on his life before. It is widely acknowledged that he had numerous enemies," Mr Curran said.
Sir Reg Empey, an Ulster Unionist Party Assembly member, expressed some concern about who killed Mr Fegan. "There are clearly questions arising as to who was responsible," he said.
