Niccolo and Donkey
11-12-2009, 07:46 AM
Man charged with 1977 IRA murder of British Army officer Captain Robert Nairac (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1226997/Man-charged-1977-IRA-murder-British-Army-officer-Captain-Robert-Nairac.html)
Daily Mail UK
David Williams
November 12, 2009
A man was charged yesterday with the infamous IRA murder of an undercover British Army intelligence officer in Northern Ireland more than 30 years ago.
Kevin Crilly, a woodcutter, was already facing charges of kidnapping and falsely imprisoning Grenadier Guardsman Captain Robert Nairac.
The 59-year-old - who spent nearly three decades in the U.S. living under an assumed name following the soldier's disappearance - was charged with murder before he appeared at Newry Magistrates' Court for a bail hearing on the two lesser counts.
The abduction and murder of Captain Nairac, 29, in 1977 is considered one of the most brutal incidents in the Troubles.
Using the name Danny McAlevey, the officer was undercover and singing Republican songs in the Three Steps pub, in remote Bandit Country close to the border with the Irish Republic, when he was seized in a scuffle.
He was taken across the border, tortured and then shot dead in an isolated field.
His body has never been found and it was suspected his injuries were so severe that it was put through a meat processing machine so that it could never be found.
Captain Nairac, who had trained with the SAS, was posthumously awarded the George Cross.
The citation praised the resistance of the Oxford-educated officer to his abductors and his bravery under 'a succession of exceptionally savage assaults' which failed to break him.
Three men have already been convicted of the murder and have received hefty jail sentences.
Crilly was arrested last May after returning from the U.S. to live in South Armagh and charged on counts of kidnapping, assault and false imprisonment after a BBC documentary team unearthed fresh evidence.
In court, investigating officer Detective Sergeant Barry Graham said of Crilly: 'The only reason he returned to Northern Ireland was because he was in a long-term relationship in America and that relationship had broken down.'
The officer told the judge that he could connect Crilly with the murder charge and the two other counts of kidnapping and false imprisonment.
Police said hair from the victim had been discovered in a car used by Crilly.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/11/12/article-1226997-072D9689000005DC-109_233x502.jpg
During the half-hour hearing, Mr Graham said two other suspects in the murder case had fled across the Atlantic at the same time as Crilly and detectives were still attempting to track them down.
Asked why prosecutors and police had decided to pursue the murder charge 18 months after Crilly was accused of the two lesser counts, the officer explained: 'Since that time, police have continued to investigate and more evidence has been uncovered.'
Crilly was granted bail. After an hour-long delay to establish whether prosecutors would appeal against the decision, he emerged from court and dived into the back of a waiting car.
• The terrorists behind the Omagh bombing could have been arrested before the atrocity, the man who investigated the murders said last night.
Norman Baxter said that, had intelligence services shared information with police, the lives of the 29 killed could have been saved.
Mr Baxter gave evidence to MPs on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee and said there had been a string of earlier incidents involving the same Republican gang.
But he said police investigators 'didn't have access to the intelligence' that would have given them 'an opportunity to have the suspects arrested prior to the Omagh bomb'.
The former detective superintendent said the Real IRA team 'had free reign from the middle of 1997 and the authorities allowed that to continue'.
The Omagh blast on August 15, 1998 was the worst single atrocity of the Troubles. There were a series of bombings leading up to it when, with the right information, the gang's activities could have been disrupted, said Mr Baxter.
Daily Mail UK
David Williams
November 12, 2009
A man was charged yesterday with the infamous IRA murder of an undercover British Army intelligence officer in Northern Ireland more than 30 years ago.
Kevin Crilly, a woodcutter, was already facing charges of kidnapping and falsely imprisoning Grenadier Guardsman Captain Robert Nairac.
The 59-year-old - who spent nearly three decades in the U.S. living under an assumed name following the soldier's disappearance - was charged with murder before he appeared at Newry Magistrates' Court for a bail hearing on the two lesser counts.
The abduction and murder of Captain Nairac, 29, in 1977 is considered one of the most brutal incidents in the Troubles.
Using the name Danny McAlevey, the officer was undercover and singing Republican songs in the Three Steps pub, in remote Bandit Country close to the border with the Irish Republic, when he was seized in a scuffle.
He was taken across the border, tortured and then shot dead in an isolated field.
His body has never been found and it was suspected his injuries were so severe that it was put through a meat processing machine so that it could never be found.
Captain Nairac, who had trained with the SAS, was posthumously awarded the George Cross.
The citation praised the resistance of the Oxford-educated officer to his abductors and his bravery under 'a succession of exceptionally savage assaults' which failed to break him.
Three men have already been convicted of the murder and have received hefty jail sentences.
Crilly was arrested last May after returning from the U.S. to live in South Armagh and charged on counts of kidnapping, assault and false imprisonment after a BBC documentary team unearthed fresh evidence.
In court, investigating officer Detective Sergeant Barry Graham said of Crilly: 'The only reason he returned to Northern Ireland was because he was in a long-term relationship in America and that relationship had broken down.'
The officer told the judge that he could connect Crilly with the murder charge and the two other counts of kidnapping and false imprisonment.
Police said hair from the victim had been discovered in a car used by Crilly.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/11/12/article-1226997-072D9689000005DC-109_233x502.jpg
During the half-hour hearing, Mr Graham said two other suspects in the murder case had fled across the Atlantic at the same time as Crilly and detectives were still attempting to track them down.
Asked why prosecutors and police had decided to pursue the murder charge 18 months after Crilly was accused of the two lesser counts, the officer explained: 'Since that time, police have continued to investigate and more evidence has been uncovered.'
Crilly was granted bail. After an hour-long delay to establish whether prosecutors would appeal against the decision, he emerged from court and dived into the back of a waiting car.
• The terrorists behind the Omagh bombing could have been arrested before the atrocity, the man who investigated the murders said last night.
Norman Baxter said that, had intelligence services shared information with police, the lives of the 29 killed could have been saved.
Mr Baxter gave evidence to MPs on the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee and said there had been a string of earlier incidents involving the same Republican gang.
But he said police investigators 'didn't have access to the intelligence' that would have given them 'an opportunity to have the suspects arrested prior to the Omagh bomb'.
The former detective superintendent said the Real IRA team 'had free reign from the middle of 1997 and the authorities allowed that to continue'.
The Omagh blast on August 15, 1998 was the worst single atrocity of the Troubles. There were a series of bombings leading up to it when, with the right information, the gang's activities could have been disrupted, said Mr Baxter.