Judgement due in Nairac murder case
Judgement is due in the trial of a County Armagh man for the murder of undercover soldier Captain Robert Nairac 33 years ago.
60-year-old Kevin Crilly from Lowerfoughill Road, Jonesborough, denies the murder of Captain Nairac between 13 and 16 May 1977 and “associated charges” which involved the abduction and holding of the soldier.
Captain Nairac was abducted from a bar in south Armagh in 1977 and taken across the border to County Louth and killed.
Mr Justice Richard McLaughlin has been considering his verdict for a month following the no-jury trial. He will give his decision at Belfast Crown Court later.
Following the murder Crilly allegedly went on the run in the US for 27 years using his birth name Declan Power.
The prosecution claimed that following the kidnapping of Captain Nairac from the Three Steps Inn, Crilly, then aged 26, picked up the gunman Liam Townson, who was later convicted by the Special Criminal Court in Dublin.
He allegedly drove the soldier to the bridge in Ravensdale Forest, Co Louth, in the Irish Republic, where according to Townson he was shot.
A total of three men have already been convicted of the killing, one manslaughter and two on lesser charges.
Nairac was later awarded the George Cross.
The judgement will be made at Belfast Crown Court.
