Garda killer Aaron Brady allegedly enlisted the help of
a jailed convict to intimidate witnesses ready to testify against him, it has been revealed.
The 29-year-old thug, convicted of capital murder last week, allegedly used an armed robber on a lengthy prison stretch to do his dirty work while he was holed up in New York.
This Mountjoy inmate, who has 120 previous convictions, in turn allegedly used a Dublin gang to threaten and intimidate prosecution witnesses due to testify in the trial.
Detectives are continuing a major cross-border investigation into witness intimidation across three countries.
The inquiry is being led by a detective from the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
A source said: “The jail cell of an aggravated burglar has been searched as part of this probe.
Investigations are ongoing.”
Brady took just seconds to pull the trigger in a botched credit union robbery that took 58 seconds – but it has taken seven long years to bring him to justice.
The murderer attacked a key witness in the US and warned him to keep his mouth shut – while the Dublin gang allegedly intimidated witnesses in Louth and South Armagh.
Just two people testified that they heard Brady, from Crossmaglen in Co Armagh, admit to shooting a Garda, but five more made statements linking him to the murder.
One of those who refused was assaulted by Brady in a Bronx bar – but he made a detailed statement to Homeland Security two years later.
A campaign of intimidation against key witnesses was a constant feature throughout the Garda Adrian Donohoe murder trial.
Video interviews of a crucial prosecution witnesses were leaked online describing the man as a “tout”.
Presiding judge Mr Justice Michael White described it as “the most outrageous contempt of court” he had ever seen.
One would-be witness, related to two other suspects in the murder, gave detectives a statement but refused to give evidence.
Another who had lived with Brady hired a lawyer after making a statement and later amended it.
The trial heard that at the time of the Lordship robbery, Brady was renting a small prefab with a friend on the Lough Road near Annaghmare, Co Armagh.
It became the venue for late-night parties after nights out in Dundalk where Brady and another suspect would pose in balaclavas and sing IRA songs.
In a statement his then girlfriend Jessica King described how one day she saw a black handgun in a drawer – and how “everything changed” after the robbery, with no more parties.
