Slain serial killer Robbie Lawlor - who is the chief suspect in the gruesome murder of Drogheda teen Keane Mulready-Woods - has been named in court as the man believed to have shot mob boss Owen Maguire.
Maguire - whose associates are involved in a deadly feud with their rival Anti-Maguire faction - has been left paralysed ‘from the chest down and confined to a wheelchair’ as a result of being shot a number of times back in 2018.
In an affidavit, which forms part of the Criminal Assets Bureau’s case against Maguire, 38, and his brother Brendan, a senior member of An Garda Siochana said, “It is believed that Robbie Lawlor was the person who shot Owen Maguire.”
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Brendan was also the victim of an attempted murder in February 2019. The 43-year-old had left a gym in the M1 Retail Park in Drogheda when a gunman fired at Brendan while he was in the passenger seat of a car. Brendan was struck in the upper body and arms and survived. Gardai believe members of the Anti-Maguire faction carried out that attempted murder.
“Mr Lawlor was an associate of the leading member of a rival drugs gang operating in the Drogheda and wider area,” the affidavit continued, mentioning Maguire was shot “a number of times” at a halting site on Cement Road in Drogheda.
The senior member of the force also said: “The person who shot Owen Maguire is alleged to have said words similar to “these are from……” - a named person who cannot be named here for legal reasons.
The senior member also said they believe that the shooting of Owen “was the start of the vicious feud.”
A second affidavit from another member of An Garda Siochana said they arrived at the scene of the shooting and attempted murder on the night of July 5, 2018.
“At approximately 00.20hrs I received a call from the Divisional Control Room advising of reports of shots fired in the Mell halting site across from Aldi on Cement Road.
The officer said they observed a gold Ford Transit van parked facing inwards at a bay of the halting site.
“The driver’s side of the van was opened and Owen Maguire was found lying to the driver’s side of the van.”
The Ford Transit is on the list of assets now being targeted by CAB, including €270k in cash found at the same address a month later.
Notorious criminal Lawlor - who was shot dead in broad daylight in Belfast in April 2020 - was stopped by gardai just an hour after the attempted murder of Maguire. The psychotic killer was stopped in north Louth for driving at high speeds with a flat tyre.
The Dublin criminal was stripped to his underwear and doused in petrol when the car he was driving was stopped by members of the Road Policing Unit.
Gardai believe he was semi-naked and doused in petrol to remove any traces of DNA or gun residue following the murder bid.
He had been summoned to appear before Dundalk District Court on a number of driving offences on that night.
But, on November 8, 2020 - just seven months after Lawlor was murdered, the court presenter told Judge Miriam Walsh “The matter can be struck out. The defendant is deceased.”
Ruthless Lawlor is suspected of killing at least six people, including 17-year-old Keane Mulready-Woods, who was abducted, murdered and dismembered in January in one of the most gruesome murders in Irish gangland history. The teen was associated with Maguires.
A major target for gardai, Lawlor was involved in many different feuds over the years including the Drogheda feud and Coolock feud and sources say he had a “lot of blood on his hands.”
The psycho killer, had amassed over 124 criminal convictions in his 35 years and since 2009, at the age of 24, he quickly emerged as a chief suspect in several gangland killings, including that of David ‘Fred’ Lynch in 2009 and Noel Deans the following year.
The feared criminal - who had enemies everywhere - was not only a target for Maguire but also notorious Dublin criminal ‘Mr Big’ with whom he had a fall out with several years ago over money.
The fallout with Mr Big resulted in them becoming sworn enemies - and he quickly became a major suspect in the killing of Mr Big’s hit man and right hand man Kenneth Finn in February 2018.
The Drogheda feud, which has died down in recent months with a number of leading members either in jail or overseas, has seen four murders, over 100 violent incidents including petrol bombing of homes and the kidnap and torture of a young man.
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