Ken Foy Crime correspondent – 28 February 2013 10:40 AM
THESE chilling CCTV images show two gangland assassins outside the Dublin home of the man they are about to murder.
Christopher 'Git' McDonagh was watching TV in his bedroom at 11.50pm on Tuesday, September 9, 2008, when the two gunmen struck and shot him in front of his girlfriend.
The 27-year-old jumped from the upstairs window in an attempt to escape the attackers but was shot dead in the garden.
Mr McDonagh's killers arrived at the property in Ronanstown in a dark-coloured saloon car that had a taxi plate on the roof.
The chilling gangland assassination was witnessed by Mr McDonagh's partner.
The CCTV images were featured on RTE's Crimecall programme this week on what would have been McDonagh's 32nd birthday.
The images, which have never been released before, come from cameras installed at the victim's home.
Car dealer Mr McDonagh knew that his life was in danger and that is why he had CCTV installed at his home at Woodavens Estate – just yards from Ronanstown Garda Station.
It's not clear why the images were not previously released in the hunt for McDonagh's killers.
McDonagh had received an official warning that there was an active threat against his life just weeks before being murdered.
He had been linked to a number of major criminal players all over Dublin and had reached a settlement for an estimated €110,000 with the Criminal Assets Bureau, in 2006.
Sources say that gardai have worked on the theory that McDonagh was shot after being blamed for giving information about the massive drugs bust that led to the downfall of Martin 'Marlo' Hyland's empire and indeed Marlo's death in December, 2006.
Three men are currently serving lengthy jail sentences when they were snared after a massive operation by the Garda National Drugs Unit at Browns Barn, south county Dublin, on July 31, 2006.
More than €2m worth of cannabis resin was seized by gardai in 14 boxes split between a Ford Transit van and an Opel Astra car in Browns Barn public house car park.
A senior source said: "This bust led to huge paranoia in Hyland's gang. It was just one of many operations against his crew as part of Operation Oak but it was the final straw for some of his key lieutenants who were convinced that Hyland was ratting on them to gardai."
