NEVER-before-seen CCTV footage from inside the Regency Hotel on the day of a brutal gangland attack shows Strabane gunman Kevin ‘Flatcap’ Murray stalking the corridors of the hotel searching for the gang’s intended victim.
The footage was evidence to be used in the trial against Patrick Hutch, who was charged in connection with the murder of David Byrne, gunned down during a boxing weigh-in at the Dublin hotel in February 2016.
Three gunmen dressed as members of the Garda’s Emergency Response Unit and carrying AK47 rifles have never been identified. However, detectives believe at least one was a dissident with connections to the Real IRA, which later became the group calling itself the New IRA.
Only Murray, who died in August 2017 of motor neurone disease, has been identified. The third man, who was wearing a wig and dressed as a woman, was claimed to be Patrick Hutch. However, the 26-year-old denied the charge and the case collapsed last week.
All charges against Patrick Hutch were dropped this week with the prosecution stating they were unable to proceed due to the sudden death of lead Detective Superintendent Colm Fox, who was found dead in his office at Ballymun Garda Station in February last year.
The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission announced this week that it had started an investigation into the circumstances of the detective’s death.
Footage seen by The Irish News shows Murray walking through the corridors of the hotel for more than 10 minutes, along with the second gunman searching for their intended target, boxing promoter Daniel Kinahan.
Unknown to the gunmen, CCTV showed Kinahan was brought to safety through a rear door of the Dublin hotel by his bodyguards before the shooting started. Murray is seen entering a laundry area before walking through the corridor towards the main hall where the weigh-in for the Clash of the Clans event was taking place where he opened fire, injuring two people.
The Co Tyrone dissident was arrested and questioned about the shooting in September 2016.
However, despite a European Arrest Warrant being issued to get him over the border to face prosecution, a judge in Belfast ruled the alleged killer was too ill to stand trial.
