Detectives investigating the murder of a man in his Co Tyrone home said yesterday they were examining the possibility that his death was linked to a long-running sheep-rustling feud between sheep farmers in Derry and Tyrone.
The body of Mr Patrick Devine (40) was found lying in the hallway of his farmhouse near Claudy by a relative on Monday afternoon. It's believed he was hit in the head, cheek and throat when a number of shots from a semi-automatic handgun were fired through his kitchen window. No spent bullet cases were found. A post-mortem examination was carried out in the Foster Green hospital, Belfast.
Mr Devine, who was a psychiatric nurse as well as a sheep farmer, lived alone in his isolated farmhouse at Mullintill Road, about five miles south of Claudy.
Earlier this year, his brother Aidan suffered multiple fractures when he was beaten up by a gang of men.
During the feud between sheep farmers in the area, which started about 18 months ago, several homes have been attacked, cars damaged and people verbally abused. There have also been confrontations at local sheep marts. In April of last year, 12 lambs and four ewes were bludgeoned to death and their necks were broken in a feud-related incident on a farm near Donemana. One man who was arrested for questioning about that attack was later released without charge.
Yesterday police officers and forensic scientists carried out an examination of Mr Devine's house and of the roadway and land immediately adjacent to the dwelling. They took away several items from inside the farmhouse.
It is believed Mr Devine was shot as he was eating a meal. The remnants of a meal as well as a mug were still visible yesterday afternoon on the kitchen table where Mr Devine was sitting when he was shot.
Det Supt Andrew Hunter said he could neither rule in nor out a paramilitary link to the shooting. "At noon yesterday we were called to the scene by relatives of the victim who found his body lying in the hallway. We brought in a police surgeon who formally certified that the man was dead, and scene-of-crime officers started an examination of the area. I have heard about this dispute between sheep farmers, and it is one of the lines of inquiry I am following because I need to establish a motive in relation to this incident.
"I do not want to embellish that at this stage, but I am aware there may have been a disagreement in the past in relation to sheep. There is some history in relation to some sort of feud."
Supt Hunter said forensic and ballistic tests would be carried out on any bullets removed from Mr Devine's body to determine if the weapon had been used before.