*Gardaí investigating the fatal shooting of a man in Dublin last Tuesday night have renewed their appeal for information.
*Grave robbers are said to be planning to rob the ritches of €100,000 worth of jewelery, including a €40,000 Rolex Watch and the gold plated coffin worth some €28,000 in which murdered gangster 'Fat' Andy Connors was reported to be buried in.
Andy Connors, 45, was shot repeatedly by a masked gunman who entered his house in Saggart at around 11pm.
Two cars were located by Gardaí in the aftermath of the shooting.
A black Kia Sportage, stolen in Kilkenny last month was recovered in the Mount Argus Area of Dublin. The original number plate was 12 KK, but when it was recovered it was bearing 11 LK registration plates.
Meanwhile a white Opel Insignia stolen in Carlow on July 14 was found off the Blessington Road, near the Old Embankment Pub. This car, originally a 10 C registration, when recovered it was bearing a 10 D registration.
"These cars were stolen a month before the incident and fitted with false plates," Detective Inspector John Walsh of Tallaght Garda Station said.
"Somebody may have noticed them parked in a car park or stored at some facility and if anyone has information about these cars we’d like to hear from them."
Gardaí would like to hear from anyone who may have information about these cars.
-------------The shooting took place at Botherboy in Saggart shortly after 11pm last night, according to a Garda statement. The victim was shot a number of times in the upper body.
The man was removed to Tallaght Hospital where he was pronounced dead shortly before midnight. A post mortem will be carried out on the body.
*Meanwhile, gardaí are investigating a related incident in Tallaght, where a man received serious injuries early this morning.
A source told TheJournal.ie the man was “severely beaten and dumped” in the street at Belgard Road at 7.30am.
It is believed the incident is connected to the shooting of Connors last night.
The man was taken to Tallaght Hospital by the National Ambulance Service.
* UPDATE: A FATHER-of-six was riddled with bullets at his home in front of his children in a cold-blooded assassination last night.
Gardai are investigating whether 'Fat' Andy Connors (45) was shot dead by dissident republicans after he refused to pay extortion demands, the Herald can reveal.
www.independent.ie/irish-news/dissidents-find-new-cause-in-drug-war-26681928.html
In distressing scenes in the aftermath of the shooting, his children could be heard wailing "oh my daddy, oh my daddy" as they were taken away from the scene.
Connors was hit by several bullets from a handgun in his upper body when his killer walked onto his property and shot the traveller gang boss through a patio window of his home in Saggart, south-west Dublin.
'Fat' Andy was the leader of a gang of thugs who have terrorised people across Ireland in a nationwide campaign of hundreds of burglaries in recent years.
*His gang was blamed for a spate of burglaries in several counties over the past few years. In many cases they singled out elderly victims, who lived in isolated areas.
While rarely involved in the burglaries himself, Connors was the mastermind behind dozens of criminals who use high-powered cars to travel up and down the country's motorway system.
"It's early days, but the strongest line at the moment is that Connors was taken out by dissident republicans. It is known that he refused to pay €50,000 to an INLA faction based in Tallaght earlier this year," a source said.
"But this may not be just the work of the INLA, other dissident groupings were obviously very much aware that Connors was a very wealthy man from his
organised criminal enterprises." Connors had been a rich man for a very long time. In 2004, he settled a bill with the Criminal Assets Bureau for €150,000.
At that stage, he was suspected of making millions of euro dealing in horses, land and caravans.
He graduated from this to become one of the country's most notorious criminals and was a prime target for Operation Fiacla, the massive garda drive against burglaries nationwide.
Dozens of Connors' closest associates are before the courts as a result of the major garda push against his mob, which also includes some settled criminals as well as travellers.
Before moving into the house where he was murdered in, Connors lived in a caravan behind a huge house at Blessington Road in Saggart.
The property had 20 caravans on its grounds, an indoor swimming pool and five bedrooms.
He tried to sell the mansion after his settlement with CAB, but he could not get a buyer.
Connors had around 30 previous criminal convictions, including one dating from November, 2012, in which he was convicted of stealing an oven hob from Power City in Tallaght after he had an argument with his wife Anne in the store.
Earlier in 2012, Connors had appeared at Tallaght District Court where the judge was told that he had armed himself with a baseball bat, metal chisel and wrench
with the intention of causing injury to another family during a bitter feud within the Traveller community.
In 2011, Connors was charged with burglary at Mulvey Park, Dundrum, Dublin.
He was also charged with possession of a screwdriver for use in the course of a theft at Gledeswood Drive, south Dublin.
In December,2012, Connors, his son John, and his nephew Miley were all jailed in connection with a burglary in Skehard Road, Cork. 'Fat' Andy received a ten-
month sentence for this offence.
A court heard that an off-duty garda saw Andy Connors pull up outside the house just after 12pm. Connors was driving a silver BMW from which two younger
men got out of before they called to a house at Ashleigh Gardens where there was no answer. In fact, the owner was in a shed in his back garden at the time.
*Gardaí are examining the criminal background of a man shot dead in a gangland-style attack in an effort to establish a motive for the murder.
The victim has not yet been named by the Garda but has been named locally as father of four Andy Connors.
The 45-year-old was shot dead at his home at Botherboy, Saggart, south Dublin, at around 11pm yesterday by a gunman who called to the front door of the house.
It is understood the victim’s wife and four children were at home when he was killed and that some of the family witnessed the fatal shooting.
The victim, who was known to gardaí, was shot a number of times in the upper body by a gunman armed with a handgun.
Gardaí believe the killer was aided by others, and was brought to and from the scene by at least one accomplice.
The victim survived the initial shooting. The emergency services were alerted immediately and gardaí and paramedics arrived at the house quickly.
However, while he was given emergency medical attention at the scene by the paramedics and taken by ambulance to Tallaght Hospital, he died there from his injuries about an hour after being shot.
The scene of the shooting was sealed off last night and is undergoing an examination by members of the Garda Technical Bureau today.
A post mortem was scheduled to take place on the dead man’s remains later today at Tallaght Hospital.
A full scale murder investigation, based in Clondalkin Garda station, has already begun.
Connors, a member of the Traveller community, had a number of convictions including for larceny and burglary.
He was previously forced to offer for sale a more substantial family home in Tallaght when the Criminal Assets Bureau served on him a demand for €160,000 for unpaid tax on income he could not explain, which the bureau believed represented the proceeds of crime.
The house where he was shot last night had only been recently built and was still undergoing some construction work.
He had been a target of the Garda’s Operation Fiacla in recent years which was established by former garda commissioner Martin Callinan to clampdown on the spike in burglaries nationwide.
Connors was suspected of involvement in a gang that engaged in house break-ins and also more organised burglaries.
These involved gangs stealing high-powered cars and travelling around the country carrying out targeted burglaries at homes and businesses looking for cash or high value items for resale.
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The scene at Botherboy, Saggart has been sealed off for a forensic examination which will take place this morning and a Garda investigation is underway.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Clondalkin Garda Station on 01 666 7600. www.garda.ie
The victim was taken to Tallaght Hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later.
Gardaí are investigating the incident. The scene has been sealed off for a forensic examination.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Clondalkin Garda Station on 01 666 7600.
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