A man due in court yesterday morning charged with murder was found shot dead in Ranelagh, Dublin, just hours before the trial was scheduled to begin.
The body of Mr Martin Comerford (36), of Tom Kelly House, Charlemont Street, Ranelagh, was discovered shortly after 8 a.m. yesterday in a laneway off Lower Mountpleasant Avenue at the back of Ontario Terrace. He had been shot in the lower chest. His death brings to eight the number of people murdered in Dublin this year.
A full-scale inquiry is under way with 40 detectives, and according to a senior Garda source no definite theory about the case has been established. However, they were "ruling nothing out".
Mr Comerford, who was married with three children, was due to go on trial at the Central Criminal Court yesterday charged with the murder of Mr Anthony Beatty at a public house, then called the Wild Heather, in Mary Street, Dublin, on November 30th, 1997.
It is understood Mr Comerford made a statement on arrest in which he named other people.
Mr Beatty, who was involved in drug-dealing, had been drinking in the upstairs lounge when he was shot by a lone gunman a number of times in the chest. He staggered downstairs and collapsed at the entrance to the premises.
According to sources, Mr Comerford was not thought to have pulled the trigger, but to have been a lookout or scout. He had served three years in prison for unlawful possession of firearms, but most of his large number of previous convictions were for burglary and larceny.
His body was discovered by a man on the way to work. The murder scene was immediately sealed off, and the Assistant State Pathologist, Dr Marie Cassidy, carried out a preliminary examination, which indicated gunshot wounds to the chest. The victim was taken to Dublin City morgue for a full post-mortem.
Gardai said that since the death was made public they had received a number of calls from residents who reported hearing shots at about 2.30 a.m., but nobody reported this at the time of the shooting. One woman in the area said she had heard what sounded like shots but did not take any notice of it.
Intensive house-to-house inquiries were under way yesterday, and gardai will "go through the process of eliminating suspects from the inquiry". A number of the victim's accomplices are also expected to be interviewed in connection with the case.
In the Central Criminal Court a bench warrant was issued for Mr Comerford's arrest when he failed to show up. It only became known later in the morning that he had been shot.
Gardai have appealed for anyone with information about the shooting to contact the incident room at Terenure station on (01) 490-5417 or 490-6802.