Gardaí probing gun victim’s link to gang hitman
DUBLIN’S latest gangland murder victim was a close associate of the chief suspect in a double killing earlier this year.
Jamie Tighe Ennis (24) was gunned down outside a house in Moatview Avenue, Coolock, in Dublin city’s northside, in the early hours of Saturday.
He was linked to an organised crime gang in the area and had a number of previous convictions, including for firearms offences.
He was also a close associate of a notorious Dublin hitman who is the chief suspect in the murders of mother-of-six Antoinette Corbally (48) and innocent locksmith Clinton Shannon (30) in north Dublin.
The military-trained hitman, aged in his mid-20s, is the prime suspect in the horrific Ballymun double murder in August.
A two-man hit team fired approximately 20 shots in the bloodbath, which also saw two other people injured. The intended target of that attack, Derek ‘Bottler’ Devoy (37), was being monitored by specialist gardaí due to his volatile state following the shooting, which claimed the lives of his sister and close friend.
Tensions are currently running high in the area after a number of serious threats were made against those responsible for the shooting. One line of inquiry being probed by gardaí is that the murder of Jamie Tighe Ennis was in retaliation for the double Ballymun murder, which is believed to have been carried out by his close associate.
“Tighe Ennis had links to a number of different criminals so there are several motives that need to be looked at,” a source said.
“One theory is that this was a revenge hit for the Ballymun murders, given his very close links to one of the suspects in that murder. However, it is still very early days in the investigation.”
His close associate is also the chief suspect in the feud murder of Michael Keogh (38) earlier this year.
Keogh was gunned down in May in what gardaí believe was a shooting carried out by the Hutch mob.
The feared hitman was also quizzed for his alleged involvement in the 2014 murder of Bottler’s brother Michael Devoy.
Saturday’s murder victim was living at the Timber Apartments complex in Artane at the time of his killing but associated with criminals from the Coolock area as well as other Dublin crime groups.
He has previous convictions for assaulting gardaí and for firearms offences, and was before the courts last year in relation to a firearms charge.
Gardaí are also on high alert over fears that the criminal linked to Tighe Ennis will carry out immediate attacks in retaliation for his murder.
The fatal shooting occurred at around 2.20am as the victim
‘Tighe Ennis had links to a number of criminals so there are several motives to look at’
was standing on the road with a group of friends. Gardaí last night renewed their appeal for information about the vehicle used in the killing, a black Audi A3 with the registration number 00 OY 5067, and its movements from 11pm on Friday to 4am on Saturday.