A senior member of the South East Antrim UDA is believed to have ordered an attack on a Carrickfergus man, found dead at his home in the Woodburn estate at the weekend.
The area around a house in Ashleigh Park in the town remained cordoned off on Sunday with forensic officers examining the scene.
Named locally as Glenn Quinn, the victim aged in his 40s, is believed to have been attacked by a number of masked men in his Ashleigh Park home some time late on Friday night.
A post mortem examination was carried out on Sunday afternoon.
Mr Quinn, who has no paramilitary connections, had been involved in a number of public altercations with a well known UDA leader, the most recent on Friday afternoon.
Following this sources say the paramilitary boss ordered a gang to attack Mr Quinn in his own home.
Masked men were reportedly seen in the area on Friday shortly after 8pm.
It is the third death linked to the breakaway UDA faction in recent years, former loyalist leader Geordie Gilmore was murdered in 2017, his friend Colin Horner was also shot dead as part of an internal feud within the organisation.
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Police investigating Mr Quinn's death carried out searches late on Sunday at a property in Carrickfergus.
Ulster Unionist Party MLA John Stewart it was a "terrible tragedy that a man has lost his life in Carrickfergus over the weekend, my thoughts are with his family and friends".
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