Gardaí investigating the murder of a man who was found dead from gunshot wounds in north Cork believe he had gone to retrieve stolen drugs when he was shot.
Paul “Bosco” O’Connor (56), from Connolly Road in Ballyphehane, Cork city, was found by the banks of the Blackwater river at Ballyellis, just downstream of Mallow, at 1.30pm on October 15th.
O’Connor’s body was discovered by a man walking his dog. The man immediately alerted the emergency services and gardaí sealed off the scene for a technical examination.
A postmortem examination by assistant state pathologist Dr Margot Bolster at Cork University Hospital later confirmed that O’Connor had died from gunshot wounds.
Gardaí did not release the results of the postmortem for operational reasons, but The Irish Times has learned that O’Connor was shot both in the back of the head and face at close range.
Gardaí established from CCTV footage that O’Connor travelled by train from Kent Station in Cork city to Mallow at 7.20pm on the previous night, Wednesday, October 14th.
They believe that O’Connor went to Mallow to retrieve a kilo of cocaine that had been stolen from an Irish criminal organisation and had been hidden in a ditch in the field in Ballyellis.
However, O’Connor was instead shot dead in what one garda source said was “an execution-style killing” and the drugs removed by his killer who left the scene.
The garda investigation focused on O’Connor’s phone activity and who he may been in contact with before journeying to Mallow and if he met anyone on arrival in the north Cork town.
On Monday, detectives arrested an eastern European man in his 30s at his home in the Mallow area for questioning about the murder of O’Connor.
The man was conveyed to Mallow Garda station where he was detained under Section 50 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 which allows gardaí to hold suspects for up to seven days.
The man had his initial period of 24 hours extended by a chief superintendent in keeping with the legislation and he continues to be questioned by gardaí.
Gardaí carried out a search of a property near the scene of the shooting but to date have not recovered the shotgun that they believed was used in the murder.
The Garda Water Unit carried out a search of the Blackwater in case the gun had been thrown in the river but searches have so far failed to locate the weapon.
O’Connor, who had convictions for armed robbery and assault in the 1990s, is survived by his brother, Terry, and sisters, Mary and Valerie. His private funeral service is due to be held this weekend.