This is killer Dave Mahon walking the streets of a quiet Leitrim town following his release from prison this week.
Our exclusive pictures show Mahon enjoying a morning walk on the streets of Carrick-on-Shannon, and his newfound freedom after five years behind bars for the killing of his stepson - Dean Fitzpatrick.
We confronted Mahon at his new bolthole yesterday, and asked him what it felt like to be free – but the killer, whose wife Audrey has regularly spoken to this paper, decided he didn’t want to talk.
He said: “No comment. I’m just out, so I’m giving no comment. I’ll meet you again, I know I will.”
We pressed Mahon if he had anything to say to those who believe he should still be in jail for the killing of Dean, who he said walked into a knife he was holding following a verbal argument at his Dublin apartment in May 2013.
Before walking away Mahon responded: “I’m giving no comment. I’ll see you again alright?”
We observed Mahon walking through the streets of his scenic new home in Carrick-On-Shannon, where he is now living with his wife Audrey, who has stood by Mahon in spite of him killing her son.
Audrey’s daughter Amy Fitzpatrick remains missing from the Mijas area near Malaga in Spain, where the then 15-year -old was living at the time with Dave and Audrey.
This week Mahon seemed not to have a care in the world about his infamy. Wearing a white Lonsdale t-shirt, a jacket and jeans, Mahon looked slimmer and older than he had when he was jailed for the manslaughter of Dean in 2015.
Throughout his trial Mahon insisted that a troubled Dean had wielded the knife, and that he had taken it off of him following an argument.
Mr Mahon said the death was an accident or possible suicide – and he claimed that he was arguing with Dean because he had taken a water bottle off his bicycle to annoy him.
He said that Dean had pulled the knife on him and that he had wrestled it from him and put it into his pocket.
Mahon claimed he took the knife out to show it to his stepson – and Dean then walked into it.
The trial heard that Dean then ran downstairs, but collapsed outside and bled to death internally.
Mahon argued that he did not witness this, and upon learning of Dean’s death the next morning, he handed himself in to gardai.
