Suspect’s phone had web search for ‘can’t sleep after murder’

THE web history on a phone found in the home of one of the men accused of Malcolm Mckeown’s murder included a search for ‘can’t sleep after murder’, a court heard yesterday.

Mckeown (54) was shot dead at the rear of a petrol station in Waringstown in August 2019.

Belfast Crown Court heard that three mobile phones were seized by police from Andrew Thomas Kenneth Martin within hours of Mckeown’s death.

Police examined a Samsung phone and under searched items from August 9 to August 18, 2019, there were 19 entries such as ‘the act of killing aftermath’ and ‘can’t sleep after murder’ searched for on the internet.

Martin (28), from Bridge Street in Banbridge, Lurgan men Jake O’brien (29), from Rectory Road, Stevie Lee Watson (35), of Princeton Avenue, and Simon Smyth (34), from Hazelgrove Avenue, all deny the murder.

THE web history on a phone found in the home of one of the men accused of Malcolm Mckeown’s murder included a search for ‘can’t sleep after murder’, a court heard yesterday.

Belfast Crown Court was told that three mobile phones were seized from Andrew Thomas Kenneth Martin within hours of Mckeown (54) being shot dead at the rear of a petrol station in Main Street, Waringstown, on August 19, 2019.

Martin (28), from Bridge Street in Banbridge, pleaded guilty last week to aiding and abetting the murder of the crime boss and was handed a life sentence by trial judge Mr Justice Fowler.

However, the basis of this plea was not accepted by the Crown who said it would have to be “adjudicated upon the basis of the evidence” before the trial judge who is sitting alone without a jury.

Lurgan men Jake O’brien (29), from Rectory Road, Stevie Lee Watson (35), of Princeton Avenue, and 34-year-old Simon Smyth, from Hazelgrove Avenue, all deny murdering Mckeown.

All four also deny possessing a firearm and ammunition with intent to endanger life.

The court heard that at 8.45pm on August 19, 2019, police manning a checkpoint on Eastway, Lurgan, Co Armagh, stopped a grey Volkswagen Golf being driven by Martin. His Samsung mobile phone was seized from him.

A prosecution lawyer said five days later detectives went to

Martin’s then home in Lurgan and he was subsequently arrested for the murder of Mckeown. A phone Martin had in his possession was also seized.

After a caution, he said: “I thought this was to do with the drugs.” During a search of his home, an iphone with a cracked screen was recovered.

The court was told police examined the Samsung phone and under searched items from August 9 to August 18, 2019, there were 19 entries which included terms such as ‘shooting craigavon’, ‘malcolm mckeown’ and ‘malcolm mckeown craigavon’.

Reading from an agreed document between the prosecution and defence, the Crown lawyer said the web history on the phone was also examined with titles such as ‘The act of killing aftermath’, ‘Can’t sleep after murder’, ‘Scared to sleep after someone dies’, and ‘Murder accused Malcolm Mckeown owed Hugh Mcgeough money’.

The prosecutor said the phone Martin was carrying when he was arrested for Mckeown’s murder also showed searches on this device the day after the killing, with multiple entries for ‘Malcolm Mckeown’ and ‘Malcolm Mckeown murder’. Other entries included ‘Go America on bail’, ‘How much does bail cost UK’, ‘How long can police hold evidence without charges UK’, and ‘Fingerprints found murder Malcolm Mckeown’.

The web history on this phone showed 151 searches relating to the murder of ‘Malcom Mckeown’ between August 20 and August 23, 2019, the day before his arrest.

The iphone with the cracked screen was also examined which showed that in February 2019, there were searches for ‘Buy handguns online’, ‘When PSNI seize vehicle’ and ‘Watsons Lurgan drug’.

Its web history showed entries for ‘Man thought handgun was bb gun’, ‘Handguns for sale: Pistols, Revolvers, 9mm — Cheaper than Dirt!’ and ‘Buy no firing pin guns’. Records showed Martin’s phone powered off at 5.03.23pm and powered on at 7.29.30pm, a few minutes after Mckeown was shot six times in his BMW car.

The court was told police searched Jake O’brien’s home on August 24, 2019, and found a mobile phone under the pillow in a front bedroom.

The prosecution lawyer said Device Data Records (DDR) on the phone said it “detached from the network at 5.13pm… reconnecting to the O2 network at 7.45pm”. Mr Justice Fowler was told that on January 20, 2020, police searched Stevie Lee Watson’s home and seized a mobile phone located in the hallway.

DDR records showed that this mobile made its last call at 7.37pm before the phone was switched off and disconnected from the network.

Simon Smith’s phone was also interrogated. GPRS data showed that at 8.30pm the device was in Lurgan before moving north just before midnight when it travelled to the Coleraine area before moving onto Portrush in the early hours of August 20, 2019

Mckeown’s mobile phone was also examined. It showed that between 4pm and 5.12pm his device was in an area between Laurencetown and Waringstown.

Billing records and phone reports showed the defendants were in contact with each other throughout the day of the murder, either by calls or texts.

At hearing.