A man was shot in the face as he left his apartment to collect his children from crèche, an inquest has heard.
Father-of-four Anthony ‘Anto’ Foster (34) died instantly when his killer fired a single shot into his face on the top floor landing at Cromcastle Court in Kilmore, Dublin 17, on July 18th, 2008. He was holding a baby’s bottle in his right hand when he was found.
Dublin Coroner’s Court heard the investigation into his murder has reached an impasse with no suspect identified.
Mr Foster was on his way out of the apartment at 1.45pm to meet his partner Joanne Ryan to collect their two sons from crèche. This was their daily routine, Inspector David Gallagher told the court.
There were no witnesses to the shooting.
Neighbour Ann Rock who was not present but whose statement was read into the record, told gardaí she heard a bang. When she looked out her window she saw a person wearing a hooded top leaving from the ground floor entrance of the apartment block. Insp Gallagher said gardaí “strongly suspect” this was the gunman.
Ms Ryan arrived at the apartment complex shortly after the shooting happened. A neighbour told her she had heard a bang. She was running up the stairs when she heard another neighbour shouting from the landing that she shouldn’t come up. She did not see anyone as she drove into the complex. “I don’t know why anyone would do this to Anto,” she said.
Garda Alan Roche, who was the first on the scene, saw Mr Foster lying on the top landing with his head against the wall. “He had very bad injuries to the front of his face. There was an amount of blood splattered on the wall behind his head. He had a child’s bottle in his right hand and a set of keys and mobile phone beside him,” he said.
When paramedics attended the scene there were no signs of life.
The post-mortem was carried out by state pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy who found death was due to a single shotgun injury to the face with extensive damage to the skull and brain. Coroner Dr Brian Farrell said her report states the injuries were of sufficient magnitude to cause immediate collapse and death.
Mr Foster had his head down as if he was going downstairs when it happened and he was shot from a distance of several feet, he said.
Inspector Gallagher said nobody has been charged with the murder and the investigation has reached an impasse. “We would consider this investigation still open but at this particular juncture there is no suspect,” he said.
There was no CCTV footage from the apartment complex and no witnesses came forward apart from Ms Rock who saw the gunman flee the scene, he said. The gunman was lying in wait for Mr Foster and he made his escape on a bicycle, the court heard.
The jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing by a person unknown.