Almost his entire head was destroyed. [30] The UVF's plan was that the bomb would explode once the minibus had reached Newry, killing all on board. The monument, entitled Let's Dance is made of limestone, bronze and granite, by County Donegal sculptor Redmond Herrity, and is at the site of the old National Ballroom, where the band often played. Crime Scene Photos The Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office released graphics images this week, taken in the aftermath of 27-year-old Christian Obumseli's death. Organisieren, kontrollieren, verteilen und messen Sie alle Ihre digitalen Inhalte. The fledgling loyalist terror group didn't operate in established command areas and Somerville and Jackson were able to kill at will over a wide geographical area. As they began to enter the vehicle, a bomb was detonated and both men were killed outright. He was one of the men taken in by the RUC in August 1975 and questioned as a suspect in the killings, but was released without charge. Viewing autopsy photographs of her battered body in court on Tuesday, she became teary and asked to take a break. Video: Netflix. In a police statement made following his arrest for possession of the silencer and Luger on 31 May 1976, Jackson maintained that a week before he was taken into custody, two RUC officers had tipped him off about the discovery of his fingerprints on the silencer; he also claimed they had forewarned him: "I should clear as there was a wee job up the country that I would be done for and there was no way out of it for me". The only identifiable body part from the bombers to survive the blast (which had been heard up to 4 miles (6.4km) away) was a severed arm belonging to Wesley Somerville. Free shipping for many products! In photographs of the Miami Showband in the 1970s he is a slim and beautiful young man in blue denim , bright-eyed and brimming with fun and music and confidence in himself and in the future.. The scene of the Miami Showband Killings on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland, 31st July 1975. Multiple jurors also cried, covered their mouths and turned away as the graphic. [47][71] In his first parliamentary speech on 7 July 1987, Ken Livingstone MP told the House of Commons, "it was likely" that Nairac had organised the attack. [5] This move made loyalists apprehensive and suspicious that a secret accord was being conducted between the British government and the IRA, and that Northern Ireland's Protestants would be "sold out". Somerville was sent to jail for 35 years and, despite being firmly opposed to the Good Friday Agreement, he was released under its terms after spending just 18 years behind bars. By this time the gunmen had left the scene, assuming everyone else had been killed. [101], A Netflix documentary titled ReMastered: The Miami Showband Massacre was released 22 March 2019, highlighting the efforts of Steve Travers to track down who authorized the attack, for what purposes, and to get an admission of culpability.[102][103]. Griffin based her theory on the nine bullets that were fired from a Luger into McCoy's body and that Jackson's fingerprints were found on the silencer used for a Luger. But our investigations this week revealed that shortly before he died, Jackson sent for self-confessed loyalist gunrunner Willie Frazer, also now deceased. The band's road manager, Brian Maguire, had already gone ahead a few minutes earlier in the equipment van. The scene of the Miami Showband Killings on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland, 31st July 1975. Hurled in opposite directions, they were both decapitated and their bodies dismembered. ", And he insisted: "The Lord has forgiven me.". December 29, 2022 by Corinne Sullivan. [44] None of the men ever named their accomplices, and the other UVF gunmen were never caught. The Historical Enquiries Team (HET), which was set up to investigate the more controversial Troubles-related deaths, released its report on the Miami Showband killings to the victims' families in December 2011. [63] The IRA has denied responsibility. Jackson informed Frazer that John Somerville was due for release. [4] He spoke with an educated English accent and immediately took charge, ordering a man who appeared to have been the leader of the patrol to tell Crozier to obtain their names and dates of birth instead of addresses. [70] Crozier, McDowell, and Somerville were released after 1998 under the terms of the Belfast Agreement. I got them with dum-dums". Aged 70, he died of cancer of the kidney. Twenty minutes before - in what was clearly a co-ordinated operation - another loyalist killer gang made up of police officers and UDR soldiers launched a murder attack on the Reavey family home in Whitecross. Geraghty was engaged to be married. They Cloned Tyrone. 1.6K. [23], According to the Irish Times, at the height of Irish showbands' popularity (from the 1950s to the 1970s), up to as many as 700 bands travelled to venues all over Ireland on a nightly basis.[24]. Four Protestant civilians (two men and two women) and UVF member Hugh Harris were killed in the attack. [40] Three of the musicians were killed: lead singer Fran O'Toole, trumpeter Brian McCoy, and guitarist Tony Geraghty. They were: lead vocalist and keyboard player Fran O'Toole, 28, Catholic; guitarist Anthony (Tony) Geraghty, 24, Catholic, from Dublin; trumpeter Brian McCoy, 32, Protestant, from Caledon, County Tyrone; saxophonist Des McAlea (a.k.a. [19], The 1975 line-up comprised four Catholics and two Protestants. Lightly built and standing less than 5ft 7in, he wasn't a stereotypical loyalist killer. In this adult animated comedy, Elvis trades his jumpsuit for a jetpack when he joins a secret spy program to stop villains from destroying the world. A musician who survived the Miami showband massacre has, 40 years on, made an appeal to trace a young couple who helped him at the time. Photograph: Independent News and Media/Getty Images [22][91] It was revealed in Peter Taylor's book Loyalists that "the Craftsman" had been instrumental in bringing about the 1994 Combined Loyalist Military Command (CLMC) ceasefire. Our source also claimed John Somerville told him that in an attempt to break him, a police officer entered the interrogation room carrying a severed human arm in a plastic bag. [55] Robin Jackson died of cancer on 30 May 1998, aged 49. She also thinks that had everything gone to plan once the bomb was planted in the van McCoy would have been instructed to drive through Newry where the bomb would have gone off and the UVF could then afterwards portray the Miami Showband as IRA members on a mission to blow up the local RUC barracks. In 1978, he became a born-again Christian. Somerville would never have gone to prison if he'd agreed to work for the RUC. [5], UK Home Secretary Roy Jenkins introduced the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which gave the government unprecedented powers against the liberty of individuals in the United Kingdom in peacetime. Somerville said: "I'm not going to make excuses for my past. [55] Both the silencer and pistol which was later established to have been the same one used in the Miami Showband killings were found by the security forces at the home of Edward Sinclair. The six-strong group were one of the biggest acts on the Irish music scene throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Former serving Secret Intelligence Service agent Captain Fred Holroyd, and others, suggested that Nairac had organised the attack in co-operation with Robin Jackson and the Mid-Ulster UVF. On July 30, 1972, the final details. But as the death toll mounted, so did Somerville's drinking. They were both present when the Miami Showband bomb exploded, but the shootings which followed seconds later - including the slaughter of Fran O'Toole - were mainly the work of John Somerville. The emergence of discos later in the decade meant that ballrooms were converted into nightclubs, leaving the showbands with few venues available in which to perform. When three young musicians lost their lives on 31 July 1975, the heart was torn out of Ireland's showband community. [72][73] Surviving band members Stephen Travers and Des McAlea told police and later testified in court that a British Army officer with a "crisp, clipped English accent" oversaw the attack, the implication being that this was Nairac. UVF serial killer John Somerville shot Miami Showband singer Fran O'Toole 22 times in the face. 2023 Getty Images. The 55-cent stamp, designed with a 1967 publicity photograph of the band, included two of the slain members, Fran O'Toole and Brian McCoy, as part of the line-up when Dickie Rock was the frontman. But two other UVF men, Thomas Crozier and James McDowell - both soldiers in the UDR - were jailed for life. [96], In a report on Nairac's alleged involvement in the massacre, published in the Sunday Mirror newspaper on 16 May 1999, Colin Wills called the ambush "one of the worst atrocities in the 30-year history of the Troubles". One of these men, Lance-Corporal Thomas Raymond Crozier (aged 25, a painting contractor from Lurgan) of C Company, 11th Battalion UDR was charged with the Miami killings. Two days before, Jackson and Somerville had carried out a bomb and gun attack at McGleenan's pub in Armagh, killing its owner Jack McGleenan and customers Patrick Hughes and Thomas Morris. [17][87], During the six years from the onset of "the Troubles" until the July 1975 attack, there had never been an incident involving any of the showbands. He also took part in fatal bomb attacks at Kay's Tavern in Dundalk and Donnelly's Bar at Silverbridge, south Armagh. [98] In 2011, Journalist Kevin Myers denounced the attack with the following statement: "in its diabolical inventiveness against such a group of harmless and nave young men, it is easily one of the most depraved [of the Troubles]". In a rare interview with the BBC Spotlight programme before his death of kidney cancer in 2015, Somerville spoke only once and very briefly about the Miami Showband Massacre. [69] Stephen Travers decried: "We believe the only conclusion possible arising from the HET report is that one of the most prolific loyalist murderers of the conflict was an RUC Special Branch agent and was involved in the Miami Showband attack". The three men were sent to serve their sentence in the Maze Prison, on the outskirts of Lisburn. [81] Neill's car was one of those allegedly used in the Buskhill attack. It was found 100 yards (91m) from the site with a "UVF Portadown" tattoo on it. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. (Part of the Independent Newspapers Ireland/NLI Collection) (Photo by Independent News and Media/Getty Images), 3928x2594px (33,26 x 21,96 cm) - 300 dpi - 5 MB. Miljoenen beelden, videos en muzikale opties van hoge kwaliteit wachten op u. Maak gebruik van de wereldwijde schaalgrootte, data-gedreven inzichten en het netwerk van meer dan 340.000 makers van Getty Images om voor uw merk exclusieve content te creren. And six years later - seconds before he was handed four life sentences - his voice boomed across the courtroom: "I'm being sent to prison because I wouldn't become an informer like the rest of them," he yelled at the trial judge. [88], Travers travelled to Belfast in 2006 for a secret meeting with the second-in-command of the UVF's Brigade Staff, in an attempt to come to terms with the killing of his former colleagues and friends. But he quit when the Troubles erupted on the streets of Belfast and Derry in the autumn of 1969. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. Somerville walked over to McCaughey saying: "Get back on the bus. He . UVF serial killer John Somerville told how detectives repeatedly tried to persuade him to become Special Branch tout and avoid jail, No remorse: Miami Showband killer John Somerville. [35] Regarding the soldier with the English accent, Dillon wrote:[75]. After receiving radio confirmation that there were no authorised checkpoints in the area that night, they reported the incident and requested help from the British Army to investigate it, but no action was taken. McCoy's words, therefore, were taken seriously by the other band members, and anything he said was considered to be accurate. [65] Earlier that night, three RUC officers in an unmarked car had been stopped at a checkpoint but allowed through. [2] On 4 April 1974, the proscription against the UVF had been lifted by Merlyn Rees, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. [28][45] The RUC's investigative unit, the Assassination or "A" Squad of detectives, was set up to investigate the crime and to discover the identities of the UVF gunmen who perpetrated the killings. 1,453 Vintage Crime Scene Photos Premium High Res Photos Browse 1,453 vintage crime scene photos stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. [58], Following the post-mortems, funerals were held for the three slain musicians; they received televised news coverage by RT, Ireland's public service broadcaster. [8] The brigade was described by author Don Mullan as one of the most ruthless units operating in the 1970s. "IRA 'responsible' for killings blamed on loyalists", "Decision as to the admissibility of Application no. [35], Out of sight of the band members, two of the gunmen placed a ten-pound (4.5kg) time bomb that was inside a briefcase under the driver's seat of the minibus. Although not a member of any loyalist paramilitary group,[26] he was a close friend of Harris Boyle and the two were often seen together. One of the first famous crime scene photos was taken on May 5, 1903, in the home of a Parisian woman named Madame Debeinche who had been murdered. The Officers and Agents of the Ulster Central Intelligence Agency commend the UVF on their actions and tender their deepest sympathy to the relatives of the two Officers who died while attempting to remove the bomb from the minibus. This meant that both it and the UDA were legal organisations. [37] They had hoped to embarrass the Government of Ireland, as well as to draw attention to its level of control of the border. [22][44], One of the first RUC men who arrived at Buskhill in the wake of the killings was scenes of crime officer James O'Neill. Stroomlijn uw workflow met ons toonaangevende beheersysteem voor digitale bestanden. Bei kommerzieller Verwendung sowie fr verkaufsfrdernde Zwecke kontaktieren Sie bitte Ihr. However, the officers suspected that the checkpoint was fake. Just after the arrival of this mysterious soldier, McCoy nudged Travers, who was standing beside him, and reassured him by saying "Don't worry Stephen, this is British Army". Two of the gunmen were attempting to plant a time bomb on the vehicle, when it prematurely exploded and killed them. She furthermore opined that Jackson was the man Travers saw kicking McCoy's body to make sure he was dead. Both men had pleaded for their lives before they were shot; one had cried out, "Please don't shoot me don't kill me". In prison John Somerville lived a reclusive life. Agent Elvis. [4] The band had no overt interest in politics nor in the religious beliefs of the people who made up their audience. [5] At Christmas 1974 the IRA declared a ceasefire, which theoretically lasted throughout most of 1975. As a teenager with strongly held anti-Catholic views, Somerville joined the B Specials, but he later went to sea as a member of the Merchant Navy. Pinnwnde sind ideal zum Speichern von Bildern und Videoclips. [79] and that none of the perpetrators ever offered him an apology. After meeting a new woman, Somerville settled on the Shankill and for a while he worked in the Harland and Wolff shipyard. Three band members were taken from their tour bus and shot . O'Toole and McCoy were both married; each had two children. Chris Hudson, a former intermediary between the government of Ireland and the UVF, whose role was crucial to the Northern Ireland peace process. [10][11] Hanna was named by former British Intelligence Corps operative Colin Wallace as having organised and led the 1974 Dublin and Monaghan bombings, along with Jackson. Asked whether he had anything valuable inside the case, Travers replied no. Crozier had pleaded not guilty. How are things? It confirmed that Jackson was linked to the attack by fingerprints. [4] Two men had been observed acting suspiciously inside the Castle Ballroom during the band's performance that night, suggesting that the Miami Showband's movements were being carefully monitored. [34] Afterward, as Travers recovered in hospital, the other survivor Des McAlea gave the police a description of McDowell as the gunman with a moustache and wearing dark glasses who appeared to have been the leader of the patrol. [21][36] He suggested that had all gone according to plan, the loyalist extremists would have been able to clandestinely bomb the Republic of Ireland, yet claim that the band were republican bomb-smugglers carrying explosives on behalf of the IRA. And after stopping GAA fans 22-year-old Colm McCartney and 32-year-old John Farmer, they shot them dead. [58] He was later shot dead in Portadown on 25 January 1976, allegedly by Jackson for having informed the RUC about Thomas Crozier's participation in the attack. 5 languages The Miami Showband killings (also called the Miami Showband massacre) [1] was an attack on 31 July 1975 by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group. [44] The independent panel of inquiry commissioned by the Pat Finucane Centre concluded that there was "credible evidence that the principal perpetrator [of the Miami Showband attack] was a man who was not prosecuted alleged RUC Special Branch agent Robin Jackson". Fortnight Magazine reported that on 1 June 1982, John James Somerville began a hunger strike at the Maze to obtain special category status. Aaron Carter 's mother believes he was the victim of a crime, not an overdose -- so, she's made the tough decision to let the . Jackson was convinced Hanna was a Special Branch informer and he feared he may spill details of the imminent Miami attack to his RUC handler. Other photographs in the set show similar injuries to all four limbs, his buttocks and face. Browse 25,406 crime scene photos stock photos and images available or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. Others had already been convicted for the Miami attack and they wanted John to stay in the UVF, but to work for them," said a former loyalist prisoner who served time in prison with Somerville. However, Martin Dillon alleged that the bomb was meant to go off in the Irish Republic. [76] Retired diplomat Alistair Kerr wrote a biography of Nairac entitled "Betrayal: the Murder of Robert Nairac" published in 2015, which offers documentary evidence that clears Nairac of having been at Buskhill overseeing the attack. [18] A typical Irish showband was based on the popular six- or seven-member dance band. Sometimes the showbands played traditional Irish music at their performances. O'Toole was noted for his good looks and popularity with female fans,[20] and was described by the Miami Showband's former bass guitarist, Paul Ashford, as having been the "greatest soul singer" in Ireland. It took place on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland. It had been blown off his torso when the bomb prematurely exploded as a result of static electricity. Tests done on the glasses, which were eventually traced back to McDowell, revealed that the lenses were of a prescription worn by just 1 in 500,000 of the population. It is fronted by McAlea, who returned to Northern Ireland the same year after living in South Africa since about 1982. Browse 22 the miami showband stock photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more stock photos and images. According to Martin Dillon, the order to shoot was given by the patrol's apparent leader, James McDowell,[36] to eliminate witnesses to the bogus checkpoint and subsequent bombing.
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