News that Attorney General Brenda King has ordered new inquests into five loyalist killings has cast fresh light on the potential involvement of UDR members attached to its 8th battalion.
Phelim McNally (28), Tommy Casey (57), Sean Anderson (32), Thomas Armstrong (52) and Dwayne O'Donnell (17) were all killed at various locations across east Tyrone between November 1988 and March 1991.
A member of the IRA, Mr O'Donnell was one of three republicans shot dead along with civilian Thomas Armstrong (52) at Boyle’s Bar in Cappagh on March 3, 1991.
Tommy Casey, a member of Sinn Féin, was killed outside the house of a friend near Cookstown in October 1990.
In highly unusual turn of events the killers did not bring a getaway car to the scene of the shooting but instead used the victim’s own vehicle to escape.
Based in Dungannon, Aughnacloy and Cookstown, 8 UDR covered a large swathe of east Tyrone and parts of south Tyrone.
Members of 8 UDR are believed to have been involved in several murders and attempts to kill across the district in the late 80s and early 90s, with the attacks later claimed by the UVF.
While the attorney general recently ordered new inquests into the five connected cases, lawyers say they are part of a series of 17 murders and three attempted murders previously linked by the now defunct Historical Enquiries Team.
UDR members suspected of involvement in some of the killings are thought to have used a small pool of weapons.
One in particular, a powerful VZ58 assault rifle, with the serial number R18837, is believed to have been used in the murder of up to 12 people, including Mr McNally, Mr Casey, Mr Armstrong and Mr O'Donnell.
The Irish News has previously reported on its blood-soaked journey.
Read More:
- The blood-soaked journey of R18837: How powerful gun smuggled into north by loyalists has been linked to up to 12 murders
- Four UDR members arrested following sectarian killing
It was among a haul smuggled into the north by loyalists in the late 1980s, it is believed, with the help of British intelligence.
In a HET report provided to the family of Dwayne O'Donnell in 2020 it emerged that three part-time UDR members were among four suspects arrested in December 1991.
They were detained after a joint British army and RUC review undertaken "as a result of raised concerns of security service collusion in east Tyrone".
An examination of intelligence relating to several murders and attempted murders between 1988 and 1991 "highlighted concerns in relation to several members of 8 UDR".
The HET report said intelligence was received naming three soldiers as being responsible for Mr O’Donnell’s murder.
The report claimed the UDR men “were also named as responsible for other murders”.
UDR members were also questioned about the killing of Mr Casey.
A separate HET report into his death revealed that an intelligence report indicated the murder was carried out by south Tyrone UVF and that three men named as being involved were UDR soldiers.
They were arrested along with two others, also in December 1991.
One of these was also a UDR member.
It is understood the three UDR men arrested in connection with Mr Casey's murder and the Cappagh case are the same.
