THE family of murdered Sinn Féin councillor Eddie Fullerton have said the ombudsman's report supports their belief that there was collusion in his killing.
Mr Fullerton, who was a member of Donegal County Council, was shot dead at his Buncrana home by the UDA/UFF in May 1991 following a military-like operation by his killers.
The car used by the gang was later found burned out at Culmore across the border in Derry.
Ms Anderson concluded that RUC Special Branch failed to cooperate with Garda requests for intelligence reports concerning the murder.
She also said that the RUC failed to notify Mr Fullerton or the Gardaí of a direct threat to his life by loyalist paramilitaries.
“I have found no evidence that the RUC made either Mr Fullerton or AGS (gardaí) aware that personal information relating to him had been found in a loyalist intelligence cache in Derry in November 1989,” Ms Anderson said.
Mr Fullerton’s daughter Amanda said that while her family needed time to sift through the entire report and to discuss it with their lawyers, she believed it was “positive”.
"Our complaint was about collusion and I think this report upholds that complaint; the ombudsman does say that,” she said.
Ms Fullerton told The Irish News that Ms Anderson’s investigation of all of the murders found evidence which supported the definition of collusion as outlined by former head of the Metropolitan Police Service Sir John Stevens.
"She said she is now of the view that the families’ concerns about collusive activity are legitimate and justified; that’s a powerful statement.”
She added that the report vindicated her family’s suspicion that there was collusion between the security forces and her father’s loyalist paramilitary killers. She said the report confirmed that one of the weapons used to kill her father was “RUC-issued”.
"It had apparently been stolen; make of that what you will," Ms Fullerton said.
She said her family’s solicitors would now consider the report and how it may support a legal action being taken by her mother Diana against the PSNI chief constable linked to her father’s murder.
