Robert McCartney UpdateI covered this story back in the spring, but I'm ashamed to admit that I haven't kept up with it. Quick recap: Robert McCartney and a friend were at a pub in Northern Ireland when a fight broke out between an IRA man and McCartney's friend. The IRA man reportedly ordered the pair killed. McCartney was stabbed and died of his wounds, while the friend survived. An IRA forensics crew reportedly wiped the scene clean of evidence. There the story might have ended but for the bravery of his five sisters and his fiancee, who demanded justice for their brothers.
Here are some updates:
The McCartney sisters and his fiancee have all moved
from the Short Strand, where they had lived for many years. They snubbed Maggie Thatcher at a Women of the Year function, but the Guardian indicates that was calculated to keep the heat on the IRA.
A friend of McCartney's was
beaten savagely in September:
Samuel Edward Caskey, 43, from Seaforde Court in the Short Strand area, denied causing grevious bodily harm to Jeff Commander on 12 September.
He also denied possessing an offensive weapon. The High Court heard that Mr Commander was attacked by seven men using sewer rods and iron bars.A 43-year-old man doing that? Is it any wonder that the IRA is called the "RAfia"? As usual, checking the blogs is the way to go--
Slugger indicates that some of the men involved may have been in on McCartney's murder as well.
This is the
most recent update I can find on the court case of the two men accused of killing McCartney. It appears that the trial has not yet started.
