[22], According to Peter Taylor, the Provisional IRA's gun and bomb attack on the loyalist Bayardo Bar in Belfast's Shankill Road on 13 August was in retaliation for the Miami Showband ambush. Following the explosion pandemonium broke out among the remaining gunmen; shouting obscenities, they started shooting the dazed band members, who had all been blown down into the field below the level of the road from the force of the blast. Travers later recalled hearing one of the departing gunmen tell his comrade who had kicked McCoy's body to make sure he was not alive: "Come on, those bastards are dead. [48] Harris Boyle and Wesley Somerville were UDR soldiers as well as holding the rank of major and lieutenant, respectively, in the UVF. Near the anniversary of the killings, a temporary plaque is placed at the location of the killings. Five members of the Dublin-based band were travelling home after a performance at the Castle Ballroom in Banbridge, County Down, on Thursday 31 July 1975. At no time did this new soldier speak to any of the band members nor did he directly address Crozier. They had seven number one records on the Irish singles chart . UVF killer Wesley Somerville who died in the attack. Jackson was charged with possession of the silencer but not convicted, the trial judge having reportedly said: "At the end of the day I find that the accused somehow touched the silencer, but the Crown evidence has left me completely in the dark as to whether he did that wittingly or unwittingly, willingly or unwillingly". But he quit when the Troubles erupted on the streets of Belfast and Derry in the autumn of 1969. On October 23, 1975, Somerville and Jackson led a UVF team in the savage murders of Peter McKearney (63) and his wife Jane (58) at their home near the Moy. Hier knnen Sie Inhalte sammeln, auswhlen und Anmerkungen zu Ihren Dateien hinterlegen. I got them with dum-dums". [83] Journalists Kevin Dowling and Liam Collins in the Irish Independent however, suggested in their respective articles that Jackson had been the leader of the unit. Pat Finucane Centre. More than 100 killings have been attributed to him by the Pat Finucane Centre, the Derry-based civil rights group.[15][17]. But as the death toll mounted, so did Somerville's drinking. Hurled in opposite directions, they were both decapitated and their bodies dismembered. [4][22] McAlea made his way up the embankment to the main road where he hitched a lift to alert the RUC at their barracks in Newry. Abe Reles, 1941 Place: Half Moon Hotel, Coney Island Date: 25th October 1957 Means: Pushed out of the window Angelo Bruno, 1980 Place: Intersection of 10th Street and Snyder Avenue, South Philadelphia Date: 21st March 1980 Means: Shotgun blast to the back of the head But the Sunday World has also learned that on January 4 1976, Jackson was accompanied by John Somerville when he burst into the home of the O'Dowd family at Ballyduggan, near Gilford, shooting three of them dead. Aged 70, he died of cancer of the kidney. 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. They asked him if he recognised it or could he identify it. The scene of the Miami Showband Killings on the A1 road at Buskhill in County Down, Northern Ireland, 31st July 1975. O'Toole and McCoy were both married; each had two children. I was given a sub-machine gun but I had never fired it. crime scene photos 1,913 Vintage Crime Scene Premium High Res Photos Browse 1,913 vintage crime scene stock photos and images available, or search for crime scene photos to find more great stock photos and pictures. ;UVF killer Harris Boyle who died in the attack. Survivors and relatives of those murdered in the Miami Showband massacre are to receive nearly 1.5m (1.75m) in total damages to settle claims over . [31] Travers described McCoy as a "sophisticated, father-type figure. The Miami Showband Massacre, the latest in Netflix's ReMastered music documentary series, may feature a band unfamiliar to Americans but the horrendous violence on display puts most American true . Unlike Jackson, Somerville was arrested in the wake of the Miami atrocity, but he refused to make a statement and was released without charge. It had been travelling from Banbridge to Bleary with nine people on board; all were Catholics and most had been returning from a regular bingo session. Fortnight Magazine reported that on 1 June 1982, John James Somerville began a hunger strike at the Maze to obtain special category status. 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. [37][38] This might have resulted in the Irish authorities enforcing tighter controls over the border, thus restricting IRA operations. "[54] In May 1976, Robin Jackson's fingerprints were discovered on the metal barrel of a home-made silencer constructed for a Luger. [55] Although ballistic testing had linked the Luger (for which the silencer had been specifically made) to the Miami Showband attack, Jackson was never questioned about the killings after his fingerprints had been discovered on the silencer, and the Miami inquiry team were never informed about these developments. Miami showband massacre Stock Photos and Images (9) See miami showband massacre stock video clips RF TTNAG4 - A plaque in Parnell Square, Dublin, Ireland to those who died in what became known as the Miami Showband Massacre in 1975 at Buskhill, Newry. [46] Some time after the attack, RUC officers questioned Stephen Travers at Dublin Castle. Ashford had been asked to leave the band in 1973, for complaining that performing in Northern Ireland put their lives at risk. They also discovered a stolen white Ford Escort registration number 4933 LZ,[43] which had been left behind by the gunmen, along with two guns, ammunition, green UDR berets and a pair of glasses later traced to James McDowell, the gunman who had allegedly ordered the shootings. The Miami Showband killings (also called the Miami Showband Massacre) was an attack by the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), a loyalist paramilitary group, on 31 July 1975. John Somerville was born in 1940 into a respectable small farming family from outside Moygashel, Co Tyrone. [18] A typical Irish showband was based on the popular six- or seven-member dance band. [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. Halfway to Newry, their minibus was stopped at what appeared to be a military checkpoint where gunmen in British Army uniforms ordered them to line up by the roadside. The RUC suggested the IRA had meant to attack a police minibus in revenge for the Miami killings, but had mistakenly attacked a civilian minibus instead. Three band members were taken from their tour bus and shot . The gunman turned him round, punched him hard in the back and pushed him on the shoulder back into the line-up. [30] The UVF's plan was that the bomb would explode once the minibus had reached Newry, killing all on board. Pinnwnde sind ideal zum Speichern von Bildern und Videoclips. The band was . [68] During the trial, Des McAlea had received death threats which made him fear for the safety of his family; this caused him to eventually leave Northern Ireland. He . [5] Their fears were slightly grounded in fact, as the MI6 officer Michael Oatley was involved in negotiations with a member of the IRA Army Council, during which "structures of disengagement" from Ireland were discussed. However, the flames from the burning hedge (which had been set on fire by the explosion) soon came dangerously close to where he lay; he was forced to leave his hiding spot. He was also one of the prime suspects in the sectarian killing of Dorothy Traynor on 1 April 1975 in Portadown. After meeting a new woman, Somerville settled on the Shankill and for a while he worked in the Harland and Wolff shipyard. A Sunday World investigation into the Miami Showband atrocity has revealed the now deceased killer's assertion was true. Their name comes from a farm in Glenanne, County Armagh, which was owned by RUC reservist James Mitchell; according to ex-RUC Special Patrol Group officer John Weir, it was used as a UVF arms dump and bomb-making site. Robin Jackson died of cancer in May 1998 aged 49. Free shipping for many products! He was charged with the Miami Showband murders, the attempted murder of Stephen Travers, and the murder of Patrick Falls in 1974. [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]. 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. But by this time, he was ready to go to jail. [33], A stamp was issued in Ireland on 22 September 2010 commemorating the Miami Showband. [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". [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. The government held the view that the British Government had not done enough to stop sectarian assassinations in Northern Ireland. [55] Robin Jackson died of cancer on 30 May 1998, aged 49. [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". Ray Millar, the band's drummer, was not with them as he had chosen to go to his home town of Antrim to spend the night with his parents. And nearer home, they carried out five operations in one day in the Moy and Stewartstown. Somerville walked over to McCaughey saying: "Get back on the bus. 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.