'Blood was coming from his mouth and nose, we knew we were losing him'
BY KEN FOY AND CONOR FEEHAN – 05 MAY 2014 03:30 PM
A WOMAN has told how she desperately tried to save gangster Christopher Zambra as he lay dying after being shot by an assassin.
Neighbour Veronica Sheehan helped the crime kingpin in his final moments.
"There was blood coming from his mouth and nose and you could see he was turning blue," she said.
"When I checked on him he still had a pulse and another neighbour who is a nurse began to do CPR on him and his brother-in-law was also breathing into his mouth, but we could tell that we were losing him."
"I ran over to him after I heard the gunshots from my house and I could see a man in a black balaclava jump into another car after he had shot him," she added.
Gardai are now braced for a gangland bloodbath after the daylight gun murder of one of the country's most notorious criminals.
Zambra (39) was one of Ireland's most feared gangsters. The highly vindictive "ladies man" was a pal of the so-called 'Mr Big' of Irish crime and was spotted by gardai with another young south Dublin criminal at the gang boss' heavily fortified bulletproof home in Coolock last Monday.
There are now fears that 'Mr Big' will avenge his pal's killing as detectives examine multiple possible motives for Zambra's murder including whether it was ordered by the Christy Kinahan crime syndicate.
ATTACKERS
Zambra was targeted just before 3pm yesterday as he drove along Cooley Road in Drimnagh to visit his sister. As he arrived the gunman ran towards the front of his 02 CW registered Audi car. Up to six shots were fired at him when his car was blocked in by two other vehicles – a 4x4 and a car.
He tried to flee his attackers and is believed to have jumped out the passenger door to try and run for his life, but he was hit by another burst of gunfire from a 9mm machine gun and died in a nearby garden. It's understood his attacker shot him twice as he lay dying on the ground.
The convicted armed robber, a key associate of the gang who organised the murder of Real IRA terror chief Alan Ryan in 2012, walked free from court last year on charges of murdering drug dealer John Carroll in Grumpy Jacks in The Coombe in 2009.
Gardai believe that he ordered and organised Carroll's murder because of a row over a woman and the fact that he owed Carroll a five figure sum for drugs. Zambra was formerly closely connected to the gang which was led by convicted killer and heroin dealer Brian Rattigan who grew up in the same estate where Zambra was shot dead yesterday.
Gardai erected a blue forensic tent over his body in the front garden of a house at the junction of Cooley Road and Kilworth Road, two doors from where he had been targeted.
Gardai sealed off the scene and started house-to-house enquiries. A silver Nissan Qashqai, believed to be the getaway vehicle, was found burned out on nearby Galtymore Road where a second crime scene was established. The handgun used in the murder was found but gardai have not yet located the other car.
Known for his "vicious jealous personality"' Zambra was involved in numerous relationships with women – some of whom were in previous relationships with other gangland figures.
On one of the many times that he was previously arrested by armed detectives, he was caught in bed with the then partner of a major gang boss.
Sources say that he has numerous enemies in the underworld including jilted lovers and gangsters linked to the 'Fat' Freddie Thompson mob as well as the Kinahan crime syndicate. He survived an assassination attempt in June 2008, at the height of the Crumlin/Drimnagh feud when a number of shots were fired at him in Crumlin by gunmen linked to the Thompson gang.
Gardai have been investigating whether he had any "organisational involvement" in the attempted gun murder of heroin trafficker Greg Lynch outside a northside pub last October.
Last night, this was being examined as one of the main motives for the murder as well as whether the shooting was revenge for the gruesome murder of John Carroll.
A talented musician and soccer player, Zambra was a long term target for specialist garda units including the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and Organised Crime Unit (OCU).
Originally from Drimnagh, Zambra had been based on the capital's northside since his release from custody last year.
He was very friendly with 'Mr Big' for years and even went to New York on a holiday with him along with a tiger kidnap gang boss who is currently on the run from gardai and the PSNI after his Co Cavan home was seized by CAB earlier this year.
