THE brutal killing of Joe Reilly brings to seven the number of murders in Belfast this year.
Six have been linked to paramilitaries – five republican and one loyalist.
In January father-of-two Conor McKee (31) died from his injuries after he was shot in the legs at his parents' home in the Oldpark area.
While the shooting has never been claimed, a splinter group with connections to the INLA has been linked to the murder.
The following month father-of-two Stephen Carson (28) was shot in the head at a house at Walmer Street in south Belfast. Two men have been charged with his murder.
In March prison officer Adrian Ismay (52), a father-of-three, died in hospital 11 days after a bomb exploded under his van in east Belfast. A man has been charged with his murder.
Michael McGibbon (33) was shot several times in the leg in an alley in Ardoyne in April and bled to death in what was thought to have been a botched paramilitary-style shooting.
Dissident republican organisation 'the IRA' later claimed responsibility for the fatal attack on the father-of-four.
In May Dan Murray (55) was shot dead in west Belfast's Lady Street area after being lured there by a hoax call to the Chinese takeaway where he worked as a delivery driver.
The father-of-six had previously been targeted by republican paramilitaries.
Last year a gunman claiming to be from the "republican movement" burst into his home at St James Mews off the Antrim Road and shot him once in the face.
The bullet travelled through his neck and chipped the top of his spinal chord.
Republican paramilitary group 'Action Against Drugs' later claimed responsibility for the shooting, as well as a string of gun and bomb attacks across Belfast.
In August prominent UDA man John Boreland was shot dead in Sunningdale Gardens off the Ballysillan Road in north Belfast. He had been warned by police that his life was under threat.
Rival loyalists have been accused of murdering the 46-year-old, who was a close associate of Andre Shoukri.
Joe Reilly's murder on Thursday night happened just yards from where a man was wounded by republican paramilitaries some days earlier.
Peter Lagan (56) was shot six times in the legs in the neighbouring Glenwood Drive area of Poleglass on Sunday evening by Óglaigh na hÉireann.
The group also claimed its members planned to kill another man in his house in north Belfast on Sunday but the intended victim was not at home.
However, it is believed the shooting of Mr Reilly (43) in his house at Glenwood Court was unconnected to Sunday's shooting and planned attack.
