A trial at the Special Criminal Court has heard that a text message was sent to the wife of murder victim Peter Butterly minutes before he was shot dead in March 2013. Laurence Murphy, aged 62, of Bettystown, County Meath, and Ray Kennedy, aged 39, of Blanchardstown, Dublin, have pleaded not guilty to membership of an unlawful organisation styling itself the IRA on the date in question. Detective Garda evidence indicated that a message was transmitted from a phone linked to Mr Kennedy to the victim's wife at 1.43pm on March 6th, 2013, approximately seventeen minutes before Mr Butterly, a 35-year-old father of two, was fatally shot in the carpark of the Huntsman Inn at Gormanston, County Meath. Mr Kennedy faces an additional charge of perverting the course of justice by destroying a mobile telephone SIM card. Four men have previously received life sentences following conviction for the murder. The trial continues before Ms Justice Tara Burns and two other judges.
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Original report plus public source leads and related archive reports used for review context.
Public source leads
- Cavan man pleads guilty to helping unlawful organisation murder dissident republican Peter Butterly - Anglo Celt Anglo Celt · Fri, 23 Nov 2018 08:00:00 GMT
- Two men jailed for their roles in murder of dissident republican Peter Butterly - Irish Examiner Irish Examiner · Mon, 01 Apr 2019 07:00:00 GMT
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Irish Republican Army - The Irish Times
irishtimes.com
May 13, 2026 · This topic contains articles relating to the original IRA from the time of the Irish War of Independence (1919-1921).
- Third man facing life sentence over Butterly murder - RTE.ie RTE.ie · Fri, 20 Jul 2018 07:00:00 GMT
- Man jailed for 18 months for disrupting garda inquiry into Peter Butterly murder - BreakingNews.ie BreakingNews.ie · Mon, 12 Jul 2021 07:00:00 GMT
- Man found guilty of disrupting investigation into murder of dissident republican - BreakingNews.ie BreakingNews.ie · Mon, 17 May 2021 07:00:00 GMT
- Murderer apologises to Butterly family after being jailed for life - Irish Examiner Irish Examiner · Tue, 31 Jul 2018 07:00:00 GMT
- Ballinagh man jailed for role in Butterly murder - Anglo Celt Anglo Celt · Mon, 01 Apr 2019 07:00:00 GMT
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