THE co-author of a book on Troubles victims has said Thomas Mair could have studied the tome to learn the “methodology” of paramilitary killers before murdering MP Jo Cox.
When police searched the home of far-right fanatic Mair they discovered a morbid collection of fascist literature, including books on Nazis and other far-right groups.
Among them, on a shelf topped with a swastika-emblazoned gold Nazi eagle ornament, was a copy of Lost Lives: The Stories of the Men, Women and Children Who Died as a Result of the Northern Ireland Troubles.
The book – first published in 1999 – details the deaths of everyone killed in the conflict in the north, and was written by David McKittrick, Seamus Kelters, Chris Thornton and Irish News columnist Brian Feeney.
Mr Feeney, a former SDLP councillor and political commentator, said Mair was known to have an interest in the Troubles, and had expressed sympathies with loyalists.
“He appeared to be the sort of guy who took a particular interest in killing, as was evidenced by his internet search history as well as the literature in his home,” Mr Feeney said.
“I suspect that’s the sort of thing that attracted him to Lost Lives – to try and understand the methodology used by those who killed for their own causes here.
“There is plenty of details about the likes of the Shankill Butchers and their preference for using knives to kill victims that would have been fascinating for a warped mind like his.”
Mair’s admiration of loyalism was highlighted earlier this year when a letter he wrote to a pro-apartheid magazine in South Africa in 1991 was revealed.
It spoke of the 1987 IRA killings of controversial unionist politician – and alleged UVF member - George Seawright, and UDA leader John McMichael.
Mair said the killings in “Ulster” were “an extreme example of what we are up against”.
