https://www.sundayworld.com/top-stories/...d-pair-executedPsycho gang boss who ordered hit is linked to Alan Ryan murder.
The violent gangster who ordered the execution of two men whose bodies were found on an deserted island, was also involved in RIRA chief Alan Ryan’s murder.
The bodies of Eoin O’Connor (32) and Anthony Keegan (33), were discovered on an island in Lough Sheelin, Co. Meath, on Tuesday – five weeks after they went missing.
Gardai believe their murder was ordered by a close associate of the two men who is based on Dublin’s northside and who blamed the two men for the loss of a drugs shipment.
The psychopathic armed robber was part of a coalition of criminals who hired a hitman to kill Ryan – along with his associate, the new ‘Mr Big’ of Irish crime.
One source has described the double murder as a complicated series of “double crosses and back stabbings”.
The Sunday World can reveal that:
Two Polish hitmen are believed to have carried out the shooting.
O’Connor and Keegan were set up by an African national who sourced drugs off them.
The gang boss has vowed to get revenge for the double murder in a bid to throw police off the scent.
Gardai believe O’Connor and Keegan were low-level members of a Coolock-based gang who were involved in the drugs trade, but were not considered violent criminals.
However, they angered a major crime boss after gardai successfully seized a shipment of drugs which was being stored in a house on the northside of the city last year.
The violent mobster is one of the most-feared criminals in the country and has been involved in tiger kidnappings, armed robberies and drug trafficking.
He is suspected of organising Alan Ryan’s death, along with his some-time associate Mr Big, in September 2012.
Weeks before Ryan’s murder, the thug confronted the dissident leader outside a pub after the RIRA mob’s gang beat up one of his relatives.
It is believed he told Ryan he was a “dead man” and that he would have him killed.
Detectives believe he was subsequently part of a criminal coalition – including ‘Mr Big’ and his veteran criminal mentor – who paid to hire a hitman to have Ryan killed.
But gardai are now convinced that he also ordered the murder of his close pals Eoin O’Connor and Anthony Keegan in order to make “an example” of them for failing to pay their drug debts.
The Sunday World can also reveal that two Polish men are believed to have shot O’Connor and Keegan in the back of the head.
The Polish nationals agreed to kill the two Dubliners – described as minor gangland criminals – in exchange for the write-off of a drugs debt.
The pair have since fled the country with their girlfriends because they fear they could be killed by the Dublin crime boss as he tries to cover his tracks.
A source has claimed that the Polish men came to the attention of the gardai as suspects after they abandoned their home and failed to ensure their dogs were looked after.
It is believed the Polish men were hired by an African national who was directly sourcing drugs from O’Connor and Keegan.
The man – who had been living in the north midlands for a number of years – is heavily involved in the cocaine and cannabis trade.
He comes from a respectable family in Africa. However, along with another male associate, he has become involved in crime in Ireland and has a history of violence.
He agreed to murder the Dublin pair in order to have a E30,000 drug debt wiped off by the Dublin mobster. In return, he agreed to write-off a five-figure debt owed to him by the Polish men in exchange for carrying out the shooting.
Detectives suspect that O’Connor and Keegan were murdered in an isolated home close to Lough Sheelin.
One of the men witnessed his friend being shot dead – the autopsy showed that he had been shot in the hand in an attempt to defend himself.
This bullet then passed through the unfortunate victim’s stomach before he was shot in the head.
Their bodies were then brought by rowing boat to the island by the African national before being poorly hidden under a plastic sheet. Their badly decomposed remains were discovered after a local fisherman noticed a foul smell.
Since the murder, a total of 13 people have fled the country in fear for their lives.
A source said that people involved in the murder are terrified that they will be killed by the Dublin crime boss.
“They are convinced he will target them in order to tie up all the loose ends,” said the source.
“Despite setting up the murder, he is now threatening to kill the people involved.”
O’Connor and Keegan travelled to Co. Cavan on April 22 to collect a €15,000 drug debt from a low-level dealer.
It’s understood they went on to Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan, but the pair stopped answering calls at around 9pm.
Some of O’Connor’s family travelled to Cavan that night in a bid to find the men and an official garda search was launched 24 hours later.
A day later an anonymous call was made to Mountjoy Garda station saying that the two men had been shot and dumped in a field.
On Thursday, April 24, the car that the men travelled to Cavan in was discovered near Lough Owel on the N4 near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath.
Detectives suspect it was dumped here to draw attention away from Co. Cavan.
Supt Sean Farrell of Kells Garda Station has appealed to anyone who may have seen a grey Ford Focus 04 D 46380 around Lough Sheelin near the townland of Ross, Mountnugent between April 20 and 25 to contact them.
This was the car that O’Connor and Keegan travelled to Co Cavan in.
The vehicle was found in the carpark at Lough Owel near Mullingar, Co. Westmeath, on the morning of April 25.
