Murder of Adrian Donohoe

Jimmy Flynn and Brendan Treanor are due to be tried in the Special Criminal Court in January 2023.

In July 2021, 33-year-old Brendan Treanor from Dundalk was charged with the armed robbery of the Lordship credit union on the night Donohoe was murdered.

Also in July 2021, James Patrick Gerard Flynn or "Jimmy Flynn", 30, originally from South Armagh was arrested by National Crime Agency officers in London on foot of a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by Gardai, after the Director of Public Prosecutions approved charging Flynn with armed robbery of the credit union on the night Donohoe was murdered. It is reported Flynn had spent time in Boston after Donohoe's murder and was described as convicted murderer Aaron Brady's "best friend".

In April 2021, investigating detectives sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions recommending that Aaron Brady be charged in relation to the intimidation of witnesses during the Donohoe murder trial.

On 12 August 2020, 29-year-old Aaron Brady was found guilty of the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe and was sentenced to the mandatory term of 40 years imprisonment. Brady was also sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for robbery at Lordship credit union.

On Monday, 10 August 2020, Brady was found guilty of robbing approximately €7,000 in cash and cheques outside Lordship Credit Union in County Louth in 2013. His conviction of the capital murder of Detective Garda Donohoe followed two days later. He would be sentenced to the mandatory term for capital murder of 40 years' imprisonment. Should he receive the maximum remission possible for good behaviour while in prison, he will be released no earlier than August 2050.

On Wednesday, 14 October 2020 Brady was sentenced to life in prison, to serve at least 40 years. He was also sentenced to 14 years for robbery, to run concurrently.

On 4 March 2018 at Dundalk District Court, 27-year-old Aaron Brady from New Road, Crossmaglen, County Armagh, was charged with Donohoe's murder and plead not guilty. Brady's trial began at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin on 28 January 2020.

On Sunday, 25 February 2018, the "chief suspect" in the murder case – a 27-year-old man – was arrested by the investigation team at 7.15pm outside Wheatfield Prison after completing a sentence for road traffic offences, and brought to Dundalk Garda Station, where he was questioned for a period of 7 days. This suspects' period of detention was extended after gardai made an application to the District court.

On Monday, 26 February 2018, a second man in his 50s was arrested in Dundalk and was detained at Balbriggan Garda Station. He was later released and a file was prepared for the DPP.

On Sunday, 4 March 2018 at a special sitting of Dundalk District Court, 27-year-old Aaron Brady from New Road, Crossmaglen, County Armagh, was charged with the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe in the course of his duty. Detective Inspector Pat Marry said that when the charge was put to Mr Brady he said: "I strongly deny any involvement in the murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe." He was remanded in custody to appear before Cloverhill District Court on 9 March.

On Thursday, 18 May 2017, the prime murder suspect was detained in New York by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents for violating immigration rules and was deported back to Ireland. Unlike extradition proceedings, deportations are implemented relatively quickly. The arrest was made as a result of a targeted investigation involving Irish and US law enforcement. US police were tracking the movements of the suspect on behalf of Gardai. The US Embassy in Dublin confirmed that there had been close cooperation involving Gardai and US authorities on the matter for "some time". Senior Garda officers described the development as highly significant.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York, HSI Attaché London and HSI Boston worked jointly with the Garda Síochána in relation to the international investigation. The investigation revealed that Brady was living in New York, entered the United States under the Visa Waiver Program but failed to leave upon expiration of the waiver, making him amenable for arrest and deportation from the United States for immigration violations. In May 2017 HSI New York, with assistance from ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) in New York, were able to arrest Brady by citing an expired visa. He remained in ERO custody until he was removed from the United States, flown to Dublin, and arrested by Garda Detectives upon arrival.

In October 2016, the fiancée of one of the suspected killers was arrested by police in the US on immigration offences after Gardai sought an extradition request to have her brought back to Ireland to be charged before a court. She was deported to Ireland in January.

Then Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan (who retired in March 2014) attended a case conference at Dundalk Garda Station on the weekend after Donohoe's death, where an incident room was established for the duration of the investigation. Commissioner Callinan announced the allocation of 150 senior detectives to the case. National specialist units were assigned to the investigation, including the Special Detective Unit (SDU), National Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NBCI) and Organised Crime Unit (OCU). The force's armed intervention teams – Emergency Response Unit (ERU) and Regional Support Unit (RSU) – were placed on alert in the aftermath.

One year on from the murder of Detective Donohoe, the Garda Commissioner visited Dundalk Garda Station, and provided an update on the progress of the murder inquiry. Martin Callinan reiterated his commitment to bringing those responsible for the crime to justice, and revealed the international dimensions to the case, involving police forces and law enforcement agencies from the United Kingdom, Netherlands, United States and Australia, as well as Europol and Interpol. The Commissioner also praised the PSNI for their involvement in the investigation. By 25 January 2014, the anniversary of Donohoe's death, over 4,000 investigative tasks had been undertaken, 4,000 "structured" lines of enquiry were pursued, 2,100 statements taken, in excess of 800 people interviewed, 400,000 hours of CCTV reviewed (the equivalent to 45 man-years), 1,200 exhibits of evidence gathered and more than 30 searches carried out under warrants during the 12 months of the investigation.

Succeeding Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan reiterated her confidence in April 2014 that Adrian Donohoe's murderers would be brought to justice. The investigation into the murder is over 10 times the size of usual homicide investigations.

Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe and his colleague Detective Garda Joe Ryan were on a routine two-person cash escort on the evening of Friday, 25 January 2013. Ryan was driving an unmarked police car (a silver Ford Mondeo), both detectives were wearing civilian clothing and carrying concealed police issue sidearms (9mm SIG Sauer P226). The Garda Síochána are primarily an unarmed police force, however certain units of the service are armed (such as detective units) and up to 25% of members are licensed to carry firearms. The pair were en route to meet local credit union officials at Omeath, Cooley and the Lordship Credit Union in Bellurgan, who would then travel in a three car convoy to a bank in Dundalk town to lodge takings in a nightsafe. This was regular practice, and the protocol had been recently upgraded from an unarmed, uniformed garda escort to an armed, plain-clothes detective escort following a robbery that happened at the credit union 18 months prior, when €62,000 in cash and cheques was taken. There were no casualties in the previous crime.

One hour after the fatal incident – at 10:30 pm on Friday, 25 January 2013 – a car matching the description of that used in the credit union hold-up was found burnt-out on Cumsons Road, Newtownhamilton, a remote forested laneway near the villages of Darkley and Keady, in south County Armagh in Northern Ireland. The PSNI carried out an extensive technical examination of the car and the surrounding area the following day. This area became a focus of the investigation. The vehicle, a "graphite navy blue" in colour 2008 Dublin registered automatic Volkswagen Passat, was linked by detectives to the murder and it was confirmed that it had been stolen from the Clogherhead area of County Louth earlier that week, between 11:30 pm on Tuesday, 22 January and 4:30 am on Wednesday, 23 January. Gardaí and the PSNI believe another getaway car was used to collect those involved in the crime after setting alight the original getaway car, and that there was more than five suspects involved in the overall perpetration of the crime.

In mid-April, Gardaí and the PSNI informed the public that the investigation teams were looking for information in relation to a white coloured Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) that was parked on the Shean Road, Forkhill, Armagh in Northern Ireland either side of 9.45 pm on 25 January 2013, the night Donohoe died. The white lorry may have been broken down, and a number of people were reportedly seen around the vehicle. The two police forces added that they wanted to speak to anyone who owned the truck, had recovered or serviced it, or anyone who saw any activity of this nature on the Shean Road on the night of 25 January.

On 18 May 2013, the family of Adrian Donohoe were presented with a special Garda remembrance medal in his honour. The medal was awarded to his widow, Caroline, during the annual Garda Memorial Day commemoration service held at Dublin Castle. The ceremony remembers all 87 members of the Gardaí who were killed in the line of duty.

Donohoe was posthumously awarded a People of the Year Award for his bravery and fearlessness in September 2013, eight months after his unlawful death. The award was presented in Citywest, Dublin by GAA personality Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh, and was accepted by Caroline Donohoe. She spoke of Adrian as "the love of my life" and "the best father that any child could have", adding "I will miss him every minute of every day as long as I live".

Detective Garda Donohoe was given a full state funeral on 30 January 2013. The funeral mass took place at St Joseph's Redemptorist Church in Dundalk, and he was buried at Lordship Cemetery. There was an estimated 5,000 people present at the funeral, which included 3,500 Gardaí (2,500 uniformed and 1,000 plain-clothes) and 1,500 members of the locality and further afield. More lined the route as the procession made its way to the graveyard. It was the largest funeral in Ireland for a number of years. Among those in attendance were President Michael D. Higgins, Taoiseach Enda Kenny, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter and several senior government ministers, Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan, Irish Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Sean McCann, Cardinal Seán Brady, Northern Ireland Secretary of State Theresa Villiers, Northern Ireland Justice Minister David Ford and PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott. Fr Michael Cusack presided over the mass. Donohoe's colleague Joe Ryan, who was present when he was shot dead, was a pall-bearer at the funeral.

In late February 2013, six pre-planned searches were carried out in the Dundalk area by Gardaí investigating the murder. Two men – a father and son in their 70s and 30s – were detained under terrorism legislation (Offences against the State Acts 1939–1998) and held at Drogheda Garda Station, where they could be detained for a period of 7 days without charge. A Garda spokesperson said that the arrests targeted criminal and subversive activity in the area, and were not directly related to the killing. They were released two days later, and a file was sent forward to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) pending possible charges. Both men were suspected of running a vehicle theft ring, supplying stolen cars to other criminals, and that the car used in Garda Donohoe's murder may have originated from this illegal operation.

In the first week of April 2013, a number of planned raids were carried out by Gardaí in County Louth. Detectives seized mobile phones and laptop computers in a raid at a property in Hackballscross, Dundalk and seized firearms, explosives and illegal drugs during another raid at a premises in Kilsaran, Castlebellingham. No arrests were made, but the teams involved in the searches were investigating criminal elements operating in the border regions between County Louth and County Armagh, including the gang said to be responsible for Donohoe's murder. Significant forensic examinations took place following the searches in both locations.

In early May 2013, numerous searches were undertaken by Gardaí in the town of Faughart, near Dundalk. Investigating detectives were backed-up by the Emergency Response Unit, Regional Support Unit, National Bureau of Criminal Investigation, Garda Stolen Motor Vehicle Investigation Unit, Divisional Search Team and the Divisional Scenes of Crime Unit. The Garda Press Office did not disclose any results of the searches, citing "operational reasons".

In March 2013, the prime suspect in the unlawful killing of Donohoe fled to the United States, according to senior Garda sources. The man – in his 20s and from south Armagh – travelled from Northern Ireland to mainland Britain, before boarding a flight to New York City using a British passport. Police in Ireland, Britain and the United States were powerless to prevent the suspect travelling because there was no warrant for his arrest. However, it is known that the suspect therefore failed to show for a court sitting in Ireland for separate offences that took place before the incident in Bellurgan, County Louth. Once the suspect landed in the US, security services were made aware of his presence by the Gardaí. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) were furnished with the details of the suspect's identity, and the United States Marshals Service (USMS) was tasked with tracking the whereabouts of the suspect. Garda detectives also flew to the US, to help authorities trace the suspect's movements. The man was given a holiday visa by US officials upon entering the country.

In December 2013, two suspects in the murder investigation were questioned and forced to provide statements in New York to investigating Gardaí and American authorities. Senior detectives from the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation travelled to the United States in late 2013, and in December they – accompanied by US law enforcement – brought two suspects in for questioning from a property in New York. Both suspects refused to answer questions, however under US law they were compelled to provide written witness statements about the incident before being released without charge. The suspects were Irish males in their early 20s, and had fled to the US following the murder of Donohoe. It has been reported that the suspects in the US were on Green Card visas at this time.

Two other male suspects in the murder case travelled to Australia, one in April 2013 (who then later fled to the US) and one in June 2013, in an attempt to avoid prosecution. The pair were suspected of involvement in the shooting and burglary, but they were not arrested and no warrant was issued. A team of detectives from the Gardaí travelled to Sydney in January 2014, and one of the suspects was forced to provide a witness statement to the authorities. It was reported that when his visa expired, he would be deported if he failed to leave the country of his own accord. Police in Australia were said to be monitoring his movements.

There was widespread shock and outrage among the public on the island of Ireland following the shooting dead of Donohoe, and it was considered a "national tragedy". The last garda to be shot dead serving the state was Detective Garda Jerry McCabe in June 1996, by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) in County Limerick. Jerry McCabe's widow Anne McCabe spoke of her sympathy for the Donohoe family, and retired Detective Garda Ben O'Sullivan – who was shot but survived the same incident as Jerry McCabe – signed a book of condolence for the family, friends and colleagues of the fallen officer.

Adrian Donohoe (14 January 1972 – 25 January 2013) was an Irish detective in the Garda Síochána (Irish police) based at Dundalk Garda Station in County Louth, who was fatally shot in Bellurgan (near Jenkinstown, County Louth) on 25 January 2013 during a robbery by an armed gang of five people on a credit union. He was the first garda officer to be murdered in the line of duty since 1996, and was afforded a full state funeral.

Adrian Donohoe was born on 14 January 1972 in Kilnaleck, County Cavan to parents Peggy and Hugh Donohoe. He grew up on the family farm with his three brothers – Alan, Colm and Martin, and two sisters – Anne and Mary. He was a keen Gaelic footballer, and at 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) he played midfield for his local club before going on to represent Cavan GAA at Under-21 level. He attended nearby primary and secondary schools, before joining the Garda Síochána in 1994. Two of his brothers also joined the force, and he met his future wife Caroline at the Garda Síochána College in Templemore, County Tipperary.