Irisch Republikanische Solidarität








TC

Who killed Jim Gray?




Suspicions of collusion have been raised in the murder of former
unionist paramilitary 'brigadier' Jim Gray.

Gunmen lay in wait for Gray opened fire as he got out of a car
at his father's house in east Belfast on Tuesday night.

He was hit several times at point blank range, dying almost
instantly.

Gray, nicknamed 'Doris Day' because of his pastel-coloured
clothes, heavy tan, bleach blonde hair and gold jewellery, had
been ordered to live at the address.

He is the latest in a series of top UDA leaders to meet a
violent end.

At a press conference on Wednesday, the PSNI police refused to
deny that the 47-year-old had been an informer.

Suspicions had grown in recent years that Mr Gray had been begun
working for the British forces. There had also been some
personal disputes with other UDA leaders, and he had received a
number of death threats.

In December last year, Mr Gray was stopped in a car with bags of
cocaine but no charges were brought against him.

PSNI police visited the house on a number of occasions to check
he was meeting bail demands, but his enemies within the UDA
appeared to have had considerable opportunity to kill their
ousted former comrade.

Sinn Fein assembly member Alex Maskey said that, given what Mr
Gray knew, it was likely that British forces could have set up
the former UDA leader.

Mr Maskey said: "There are a number of people, other than those
in the UDA, who would have liked to see Jim Gray dead.

"He had been given cover for a number of years and could have
revealed a lot of things that people in certain quarters would
not want to be made public.

"Jim Gray had access to information that would have put a red
face on both loyalists and securocrats."

Four men and two women were arrested in connection with Mr
Gray's murder.

One of them is reported to be a close associate of the ex-UDA
leader. Another is thought to be the new boss of the east
Belfast UDA.

The two he women have already been released.

Ulster Political Research Group spokesman Frankie Gallagher, who
gives political advice to the east Belfast UDA, compared the
dead man to a tyrant.

He said he condemned the killing but added that there was a
sense of relief in east Belfast that Jim Gray was dead.

Letzte Änderung:
09-Okt-05