Gardaí investigating the shooting of a 60-year-old Fermoy man early yesterday admitted they were baffled as to the motive for the killing. Just 30 minutes before, he had been involved in an altercation with another man in the Co Cork town.
John Mahon, a self-employed painting contractor from St Bernard's Place, Fermoy, was fatally wounded by a lone gunman who shot him several times as he tried to flee to his sister's house at about 12.30am yesterday.
Supt Flor Horan, of Fermoy Garda station, confirmed that Mr Mahon had been drinking for a short time in a pub in the Square. After leaving he became involved in a dispute with a man on Fermoy Bridge at midnight.
Mr Mahon, a separated father of five adult children, was picked up by his girlfriend, Noreen Sexton, at the bridge. They drove up Oliver Plunkett Hill to his house, where they sat chatting in the car for about 30 minutes. But as he got out to go into his house, he was shot at by the gunman.
Gardaí believe the gunman wounded Mr Mahon, who ran to the home of his sister some 150 yards away. The gunman followed him and shot Mr Mahon twice or three times at close range including once in the head.
According to Supt Horan, the gunman, whom he described as being in his late 40s or early 50s, approximately 5ft 8in in height and wearing some sort of light green sleeveless top, then walked out of St Bernard's Place with the shotgun over his shoulder.
A local person in the estate heard the shots and alerted gardaí, who were quickly on the scene. A local doctor pronounced Mr Mahon dead at the scene.
Mr Mahon's body was preserved at the scene until assistant State pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster arrived and conducted out a preliminary examination, before it was taken to Cork University Hospital for a postmortem.
Supt Horan said the description of the gunman matches the description of the man who confronted Mr Mahon on Fermoy Bridge as he was talking to a member of Fermoy Boxing Club. But The Irish Times has learned that neither Mr Mahon nor the member of the boxing club recognised or knew the man.
Mayor Aileen Pyne of Fine Gael paid tribute to Mr Mahon for his work with young people in the town through his involvement in the boxing club and said the people of Fermoy were in a state of shock at the news of his death. A native of Fermoy and former member of the Army, Mr Mahon was a keen boxer and re-established the club in 1981.
Mr Mahon was president of the Munster council of the Irish Amateur Boxing Association and a vice-president of the IABA. Last month he was voted the leading boxing judge in the country by members of the IABA.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Fermoy Garda station on 025-82100.