Gardai are investigating the possibility that a 56-year-old man who was shot dead at his Dublin home late on Sunday night was killed by a west Dublin drug-dealer who was seeking revenge for the murder of one of his associates last December.
Maurice "Bo Bo" Ward (56), a former armed robber and hijacker, was shot dead at the front door of his home in Greenfort Avenue, Ronanstown. Neighbours told gardaí that he shouted "You've got the wrong man" after answering a knock on the door at about 10.30 p.m.
He was shot once in the chest with a shotgun. The killer then shot him in the back as he lay on the ground.
The murder is identical in style to the killing of Simon Doyle (22), who was shot dead at his home in St Mark's Avenue, a short distance from where Mr Ward lived. Doyle was also shot in the chest after answering a knock on the front door of his home. He was then shot in the back as he lay on the ground.
Sunday night's murder was condemned by a number of local people, who said Mr Ward had worked for the betterment of the Ronanstown community.
Mr Ward recently took part in protests against the Catholic hierarchy over the sexual abuse of children by priests. It is understood that he claimed to have been sexually abused while in an industrial school as a youth.
Another man who participated in the protests, Mr John Kelly, told the Liveline programme on RTÉ Radio yesterday that Mr Ward was a community activist and had not been involved in crime for years.
While the reason for the murder of Mr Ward remained unclear yesterday, gardaí are investigating a possible link to the release from prison of a west Dublin drug-dealer. This man, who has a reputation as a violent criminal, is understood to have blamed Mr Ward for the murder of Simon Doyle, who was shot dead on December 23rd last.
Simon Doyle was implicated in a vicious attack on another young man in Ronanstown in 2000. It is understood that the victim of that assault received severe lacerations and had limbs broken after he was accused of failing to pay a drug debt.
It is known that this beating led to local bitterness.
It appears that Mr Ward became involved in this dispute and was blamed by Simon Doyle's associates after his murder. Doyle had a considerable criminal record, despite his relative youth, and had served a sentence for attacking a man.
The man under investigation by the gardaí in respect of Mr Ward's murder is said to be of low intelligence and highly unstable. It is felt possible, given the fact that Mr Ward is not thought to have been involved in organised crime for a long time, that he blamed Mr Ward wrongly for the murder of Simon Doyle.
Mr Ward's involvement in armed robbery, hijacking, handling stolen goods and other associated offences, for which he served a number of terms of imprisonment, ended in the late 1980s. His first marriage broke up and he began a new relationship from which he has five children aged 12 and under.
Gardaí said yesterday that Mr Ward's attacker left the scene in a wine-coloured Mitsubishi Space-wagon driven by another man. The vehicle was recovered later and was being examined for forensic evidence.