David Cullen became State witness in Butterly murder trial

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

David Cullen gave prosecution evidence in the Special Criminal Court’s murder trial before presiding judge Justice Deirdre Murphy. The proceedings were reported on 18 November 2014.

Cullen had previously been charged in connection with Peter Butterly’s fatal shooting and later cooperated with gardaí. The report said that, for his cooperation, Cullen had been charged only with possession of a firearm and was serving a five-year sentence.

Edward McGrath, Dean Evans and Sharif Kelly had pleaded not guilty to murdering Peter Butterly. Butterly was shot dead in the car park of the Huntsman Inn at Gormanston, County Meath, on 6 March 2013. The report said the three accused also faced firearm offences and charges of membership of a dissident republican organisation.

Cullen told the court about arrangements to collect a gun that would be thrown from a moving car and bury it in the grounds of Gormanstown College. He said he did not know who was going to be shot, but still intended to go ahead and collect the gun. The trial remained ongoing.