CCTV SHOWS VICTIM CHASED AROUND POOL BY MASKED HITMAN
Court sees Hutch die as state lawyer says Quinn ‘might not be assassin’
A JURY in the trial of alleged hitman James Quinn was yesterday shown footage of events leading up to the death of Gary Hutch.
The 34-year-old victim could be seen running from an underground garage in a mustard-yellow top and grey shorts with a masked assassin close behind brandishing a pistol.
And in a shock move on the third day of the hearing in Spain, the State prosecutor told the court dad-of-one Quinn may not have been the gunman.
However, Jose Barba said he was still seeking a murder conviction and life sentence for the Dubliner as a “necessary participant” in the crime.
As the footage from the residential estate in Miraflores where Hutch lived was played to the jury a Civil Guard, his face masked for security reasons, gave a running commentary.
He said: “You can clearly see how the victim is pursued by his killer in a circular fashion around the swimming pool.
BULLETS
“The first time they run round he has an advantage but on the second lap the attacker catches up with him. He leaves after he has executed the plan he came to carry out.”
Contrasting footage of the gunman sprinting around the pool to images of him walking up a ramp leading to the gated exit, the officer added: “You can see he’s more tired. He almost stumbles and falls as he scales the perimeter fence before being picked up by the getaway car.”
As Hutch was slumped on the ground, the hitman’s gun could be seen firing in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen.
However, the two men were not in the same frame when the killing occurred.
A forensic pathologist involved in the postmortem, whose name was withheld, said Hutch suffered eight injuries caused by four gunshot wounds.
One punctured his lung while the “killer” two bullets, fired from “40 to 50cms” and “approximately a metre”, hit him in the head.
A Civil Guard ballistics expert said nine shell casings from a 9mm Glock 26 semi-automatic pistol were found at the murder scene.
However, there was no evidence a .45 semi-automatic Colt 1911 pistol which was found in the getaway car had been used.
A colleague told the court that, based on screen-grabs taken from the CCTV images, he had estimated the killer to be 1.82m tall with an error margin of three centimetres.
Following his arrest in September 2016, Quinn was measured barefoot and found to be 1.85m.
Jurors also heard a factory-issue semi-automatic pistol which had been modified to become an automatic “weapon of war” had been found among the 35-year-old’s belongings during a police search of his home on the Costa del Sol.
Quinn maintains he is innocent of the murder of Gary Hutch, the nephew of gang boss and Kinahan cartel rival Gerry “The Monk” Hutch, on September 24, 2015.
He claims he had only returned to Spain from Dubai a couple of days earlier to attend a wedding and at the time of the shooting was in bed with a hangover and a prostitute.
Yesterday, prosecutor Mr Barba presented an alternative version of events to the court in Malaga.
He said that even if they could not support his principal argument that Quinn pulled the trigger, he was still seeking a murder conviction and life sentence for the accused as a “necessary participant” in the killing.
Jurors are expected to be sent out later today to consider their verdict after closing speeches by lawyers.
MALAGA COURTHOUSE YESTERDAY
First time victim has advantage.. on second lap the killer catches him CIVIL GUARD