Lough sheelin doublemurder probes leads to south africa

Gardaí investigating the Lough Sheelin double-murder case will travel to South Africa to interview a couple who left the country after the execution-style killings were carried out.
It is a year on from the events of May 26, 2014, when the bodies of Dubliners Eoin O’Connor (33) and Anthony Keegan (32) were found on tiny Inchicup island prompting gardaí to launch a full murder investigation.
They had been missing over a month from their Dublin homes when they were found on the island covered by tarpaulin, tied together and with fatal gunshot wounds to the back of the head.
One of the men had a defensive wound in his hand from a downward gunshot that lodged in his stomach, prompting investigators to believe he was sitting at the time and that both were at least connected to the shooter if not well-known.
They were last thought to be travelling to Ballyjamesduff from Coolock on a false errand for a senior Dublin crime figure in order to lure them to their brutal ends.
It is believed they lost money and drugs belonging to the crimelord and were considered disposable by the gang. The killer, it is thought, had around €30,000 of a drug-debt to the ganglord wiped for his part in the murders. After the murders were carried out, a number of those thought to have knowledge of the case, fearing either or both Garda investigation and underworld recrimination, formed an exodus from three locations in the county.
The murder investigation was opened by Kells Garda Station because of the location of Inchicup island being a hundred-odd metres inside the Meath border but it remains very-much a Cavan-centred case, in that the two men are believed to have been executed somewhere in the Breffni county before their corpses were concealed on the island. They were later discovered by a fisherman on the lake who noticed the smell of their decomposing bodies.
So far, there have been three arrests - two in Cavan last June and one in Meath - the two in Cavan Town were arrested on suspicion of withholding information and of a suspected firearms offence - but all were released after interview without charge in the matter but it did yield a drugs possession charge.
One of the two living in Cavan is of African origin, the other is an Eastern European.
A Garda source quoted in the Irish Independent said gardaí have built up a “very clear” picture of the case and senior officers will travel to South Africa but warned: “It is a tricky situation that will need to be handled with extreme care. However, gardaí know where they are going with this and this case can be cracked. There has been a huge amount of work done behind the scenes over the last number of months.”
A boat at the lake has been seized as part of the detailed investigation, launched after large numbers of Dubliners travelled to the county in search of the pair.
The two murdered men were described as inseparable friends at their joint funeral mass last June.