A murder victim's wife was waiting for her husband to collect her from work at a Belfast hospital, unaware that an arriving ambulance was carrying her dying husband. Benedict Hughes, a Catholic, died soon after at the Royal Victoria Hospital on Wednesday.
Mr Hughes (55), from Suffolk Crescent, west Belfast, was shot at least five times in the neck and chest as he got into his car after finishing work at a car respraying garage in the loyalist Sandy Row area shortly after 5 p.m. on Wednesday night.
Three men have been arrested in connection with the murder.
Yesterday their son, Mr Brian Hughes (31), said his mother, Jean, an auxiliary nurse, had gone home by herself and was unaware of her husband's killing until she saw the evening news.
"My mother was waiting for an hour, then she phoned my sister who told her not to worry about it, that there was a shooting and that he was probably just held up and to come on home.
"She can't believe my father has gone. He was her life and they were looking forward to going away on holiday together with friends in July," Mr Hughes said yesterday.
The father of three and grandfather of two had been forced to leave his workplace once before, his son said. "He left 20 years ago, but they needed him too much and begged him to come back. He started off as a clerk and ended up as a company director.
"He was the only Catholic who worked there and never had a sick day. He just loved working there and all his Protestant colleagues held him in the greatest respect."