Mum saw flashes of 13 shots that killed Hutch pal
Inquest hears of horror feud hit
A Hutch-kinahan feud victim was shot up to 13 times with his mother witnessing flashes from the gun blasts, an inquest heard.
Jason “Buda” Molyneux, 27, was killed after leaving his home in Dublin’s north inner city.
He was going to visit a friend in the nearby James Larkin House flats complex off the North Strand around 9pm on January 30, 2018.
Molyneux was a known associate of the Hutch gang.
The deceased had just returned from a wake for his close friend, Derek Coakley-hutch, a nephew of Gerry “The Monk” Hutch.
Coakley-hutch had been shot 10 days earlier as he sat in a car at a halting site near Cloverhill Prison in West Dublin.
who lived with her son and daughter, Donna, in North William Street, told a sitting of Dublin District Coroner’s Court yesterday that her son had returned home earlier that evening.
She said he had left in the afternoon to get a haircut and to pick up a suit before going to a removal in a nearby church.
Ms Molyneux said her son had been sitting on the couch with a friend in their home when he left alone at around 8.45pm to meet another friend.
She recalled trying to contact him on his phone but getting no response.
Ms Molyneux said she was putting her boots on to go out to look for him when she heard a bang.
BANGS
Buda’s mother, Liz Molyneux, told the hearing that she ran out onto her balcony and saw a flash followed by “a few more bangs and flashes”.
Ms Molyneux said she saw someone running back and forth looking like they were in a panic.
The inquest heard she just knew that it was her son who had been shot and she shouted out at the gunman: “You dirty scumbag.”
She described jumping over a railing to rush to her son’s assistance where she held his head in her hands but got no response. She recalled: “I said,
‘Be strong, Jason, be strong’.”
Ms Molyneux was able to give a brief description of her son’s assailant who was carrying a gun in his right hand.
She particularly noticed he was running with his knees raised high up “like he was
The sky lit up. I just knew it was him who was shot DONNA MOLYNEUX SISTER OF SLAIN BUDA
jumping hurdles” but did not see where he went. Asked by coroner Clare Keane if she had been worried about her son given his concern about people watching his home, Ms Molyneux replied: “Of course.”
A white Renault Kangoo
van believed to have been used by the assailant and an accomplice was subsequently discovered near the Tom Clarke Bridge in Ringsend on the southside where attempts had been made to set it on fire.
The deceased’s sister, Donna Molyneux, told the inquest that she was also at home when she noticed a bang that was “very loud and very bright”.
She said: “The sky lit up. I just knew it was him who was shot.”
The witness also highlighted how she heard a large number of whistles from the road outside her home at the time of the shooting. She claimed the number of whistles were “too many to be coming from one mouth.” In reply to questions from Dr Keane, she said she believed the whistles were to alert people to what was going to happen.
Former State pathologist, Marie Cassidy who carried out a postmortem on Molyneux’s body said there were 13 bullet entry wounds including four to the left side of his head.
Asked by the coroner how far away his assailant was, Prof Cassidy said it was probably “a couple of metres”.
Inspector Ken Hoare told the inquest that Molyneux’s death was still an open Garda investigation.
While several arrests had been made in relation to the killing, Insp Hoare said no charges had been brought against anyone.
Molyneux, a fatherof-one, was known to gardai for his involvement in serious and organised crime and he had over 120 criminal convictions.
A jury returned a verdict of unlawful killing by person or persons unknown. Offering her condolences to the deceased’s family, the coroner said there was no doubt he suffered “a violent and atrocious end”.