Charging NI garda killer a high point of my career, says officer

THE detective who led the investigation into the murder of detective Adrian Donohoe has described the day he charged his Northern Irish killer as one of the most satisfying moments in his career.

Retired detective inspector Pat Marry said he “stared Aaron Brady straight in the eye” when he charged the south Armagh man with capital murder in 2018, but Brady refused to look at him.

“I had never charged anyone with capital murder before,” Mr Marry explained.

“There aren’t many policemen who will do that.

“I was looking him straight in the eye when I was charging him and he wouldn’t make eye contact at all.

“There was still the bravado,the chest out. I told him I was arresting him and read the charge. I said, ‘Have you anything to say?’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I strongly deny any involvement in the murder of detective garda Adrian Donohoe’.”

Mr Marry, a former colleague of Mr Donohoe, was the senior investigating officer in the case.

“Brady thought he could get away with murder, first from the protection he thought he would have by going over the border into the North and then by going to the States.

“There was no way we were ever going to let that happen. In the end, it was his own bravado that led to his ultimate downfall. If he had kept his mouth shut, we would have found it difficult to get him.”

Brady (right) attacked a witness from Northern Ireland and warned him to “keep his mouth shut” after he was overheard bragging about the murder.

The assault was just one of several attempts by Brady to prevent people from giving incriminating statements against him to detectives. Two people testified during the trial that they had heard the Crossmaglen man admit to shooting a guard and five more people made statements linking him to the murder.