A MAN who carried out a "bloody revenge killing" then fled to the Republic has been sentenced to life in prison for the May 1998 murder.
Frankie 'Studs' Lanigan (56) was convicted at Belfast Crown Court yesterday of shooting 22 year-old John Stephen Knocker.
Lanigan, who was uncovered working as a barber in Dublin, denied he was the gunman and spent six years fighting extradition.
Mr Justice Horner told him that there was "overwhelming" evidence that he shot Mr Knocker to prove "who was the boss" in the car park of the former Glengannon hotel in Dungannon.
It was "a savage and barbaric act devoid of any pity," the judge said describing the shooting as "an appalling act of barbarous inhumanity."
Lanigan was found guilty of murdering Mr Knocker and of possessing a 9mm Browning pistol. Mr Justice Horner said that after examining all the evidence in the case - including eye witness accounts and DNA - he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt of Lanigan's guilt.
Mr Justice Horner said that after Mr Knocker got the better of Lanigan in a fight, he armed himself with the gun then chased Mr Knocker, firing a shot at long range which brought Mr Knocker to the ground before firing at him at point blank range.
Given the Covid-19 pandemic, Lanigan, formerly of Knockmore Square in Lisburn, Co Antrim, appeared before Belfast Crown Court for the non-jury Diplock style hearing via video-link from Maghaberry Prison.
Also watching, via a special live-link with the Laganside Courthouse, were members of Mr Knocker's family.
Lanigan, who admitted during his extradition proceedings being involved in an 'incident' in which Mr Knocker 'lost his life', had denied his murder and possessing the Browning pistol used in the shooting outside the former Glengannon Hotel in the early hours of May 31, 1998.
The defence claimed the case against Lanigan was riddled with inconsistencies, including widely ranging descriptions of the gunman made by eye witnesses.
However, the prosecution maintained he could be connected to the shooting which was carried out in revenge for the fight.
Both had been at the Exit 15 nightclub and CCTV footage played at his trial showed a man in grey, who had started the fight, being repeatedly punched and kicked about the body and head by a man in red.
Witnesses described frantic attempts by this man to get back into the nightclub before being pursued by the man in grey, firing at him as he ran across the carpark and roadway outside.
Lanigan then escaped in a waiting Vauxhall Cavalier car along with three others including a blonde woman who shouted a warning to onlookers "Nobody seen nothing".
The pistol was later recovered on the road between Crumlin in Co Antrim and Belfast, while the Vauxhall was found abandoned in north Belfast.
In the aftermath of the shooting Lanigan fled to the Republic where he lived under the assumed name of 'Ciaran McCrory', at an address at Delhurst Terrace, Clonsilla, west Dublin, while working as a barber at the Carlisle Gym complex in Terenure, south Dublin.
He was eventually unmasked in a covert operation by Garda tasked to help find him. They had the gym complex under surveillance, eventually picking up a discarded coffee cup from which they recovered his DNA profile.
He was detained under a European Arrest Warrant in 2013, before eventually extradited to Northern Ireland in January last year.
Saying he had "no hesitation" in finding Lanigan guilty of murder, the judge imposed a life sentence. As this was being done, Lanigan put his hands behind his head, stretched back in his seat and yawned.
He was remanded back into custody and will appear in court again on June 8 when he will be given his tariff.
