A senior policeman today made an appeal to the conscience of those with vital information about the savage murders of two teenagers five years ago. David McIlwaine and Andrew Robb, aged 18 and 19 respectively, were beaten and had their throats cut after leaving a disco in Tandragee, Co Armagh in February 2000.
Police and the victims' families will tonight issue a fresh appeal for information on the BBC's Crimewatch programme and a reconstruction will also be aired. Senior Investigating Officer Detective Chief Inspector Tim Hanley said police were determined to bring those responsible to the courts.
He said detectives were particularly interested in information about two men seen close to a phone box on Tandragee High Street on the night of the murder.
DCI Tim Hanley
DCI Hanley said: "Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine were brutally and savagely murdered. "Police will do their utmost to obtain the evidence to put those responsible before the courts. "This is very much a live and ongoing investigation. There are several new lines of inquiry and tonight will be asking for people to help us. "We will be making specific appeals and a new Crimestoppers reward will be announced."
Both victims were originally from Portadown in Co Armagh. Their badly beaten and slashed bodies were found on the Druminure Road. The double murder occurred during a feud between rival loyalist paramilitary groups in Portadown.
However police and both families insist neither of the young men had any connection with a paramilitary organisation. Mr Hanley said detectives believed a significant number of people had details about the brutal murders. "I am appealing to their conscience," he said.
"Time has moved on, relationships and allegiances have changed.
"There are people out there who can help us catch the killer."
SDLP Assembly member Dolores Kelly also urged members of the public to watch the television appeal and help the investigation.
The Upper Bann MLA said: "I understand this programme will be extremely difficult for both families to watch as both men were not only murdered but their bodies were also brutally mutilated.
"However this re-enactment will hopeful help forward the police investigations into these murders. "Someone out there knows who carried out these murders and I would appeal to those people to come forward for the sake of justice and for the sake of two mourning families."
PA