One of the guns used to kill a Catholic man in 2002 may have been stolen from a British soldier, an inquest has heard.
Details of the murder weapon emerged during an inquest into the murder of 20-year-old Danny McColgan as he went to work on the outskirts of Belfast in January 2002.
The father of one was shot dead by two UFF gunmen as he arrived at a post office depot in the loyalist Rathcoole estate.
The revelation comes after it emerged earlier this week that seven casings from the bullets used to shoot Mr McColgan have gone missing after being sent to England for testing.
It also emerged that a loyalist who died in mysterious circumstances days after Mr McColgan was killed had a role in the "aftermath" of the murder.
Two 9mm handguns used to kill Mr McColgan included a stolen Beretta and a Browning "type" handgun which had been used in previous loyalist paramilitary attacks.
Neither weapon has ever been found.
Senior Coroner John Leckey heard yesterday that the legally held Beretta was stolen during a robbery at a school at Orchard Place in Newtowenards, Co Down, in 1999 and that it "most likely" belonged to a member of the Royal Irish Regiment.
Retired PSNI officer Roy Suitters, who led the McColgan murder investigation, told the court that before someone is issued with a personal protection weapon it is test fired so it can later be traced.
Under questioning from the McColgan family barrister Andrew Moriarty, Mr Suitters said the weapon was "unlikely" to have been issued to a part time police officer but "more likely to be a member of the RIR" or someone with a high profile.
He suggested that because the robbery took place in a school "it’s more likely to be the RIR".
The Beretta handgun is understood to have been used a second time during a UDA feud in September 2003 in an attack at the home of Sammy Duddy who was a spokesman for the Ulster Political Research Group.
It also emerged during the hearing that according to police documents a person believed to be a suspected loyalist "was heard to say that police searches (connected to the case) were no problem, as they had someone on the inside in Newtownabbey police station".
Mr Suitter later said he was not aware of "any corrupt cops in Newtownabbey police station" under questioning form Mr Moriarty.
At an earlier hearing it emerged that deceased UDA member Stephen McCullough had been released by police without being questioned after offering information about the murder of Mr McColgan.
Hours later he was found dead at the foot of Cavehill in north Belfast in unexplained circumstances.
Police say McCullough was a member of a UDA ‘punishment’ team in Rathcoole and offered to provide information to police after the shooting.
Mr Suitters yesterday revealed Mr McCullough had failed to fully carry out his role in the murder
"The information was after the event (the murder) he had a task to do and it went wrong.
"I am not going to say he was going to be murdered, but there were going to be consequences for him."
Mr Suiiters added that the role played by McCullough was in the "aftermath" of the murder.
Earlier it has been suggested that the dead loyalist may have had concerns about the removal of weapons and clothing which prompted him to approach police.
