Convicted loyalist killer Clifford McKeown, who murdered a Catholic taxi driver in a sectarian attack during the 1996 Drumcree stand-off, has died.
The 65-year-old passed away in hospital on Tuesday. It is reported that he had been ill for some time.
His death comes just months after he was released from jail after serving a minimum life sentence of 24 years for the killing of Michael McGoldrick.
Mr McGoldrick (31) was lured to an isolated country road and shot dead by the Loyalist Volunteer Force (LVF) on July 8 1996 at the height of the Drumcree marching dispute.
The father-of-one, whose wife was expecting their second child, had been driving a taxi to support his family. He had only graduated from Queen’s University Belfast with a degree in English and Politics just two days before he was killed.
The Lurgan man’s body was found slumped over the wheel of his car close to Aghalee, Co Antrim, the morning after picking up a fare. He was shot five times in the head.
In an interview with The Irish News in 2021, Mr McGoldrick’s mother Bridie said her only son was “just sunshine”.
“You should have heard his laugh. He would have taken the house down. His presence was so big,” she said.
A court heard the killing had been a “birthday present” for the then LVF leader Billy Wright, who was later murdered by the INLA in the Maze Prison.
McKeown was convicted of the murder in 2003 on the evidence of journalist Nick Martin-Clark. He had confessed to the killing during a series of interviews in Maghaberry prison where he was serving a sentence for a number of armed robberies.
Mr Martin-Clark had promised McKeown confidentiality, but decided to break his undertaking after hearing the grisly details of the shooting. He was later forced to go into the witness protection programme.
McKeown is also suspected to have been behind a series of other murders, including the killings of Portadown teenagers Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine during an LVF/UVF feud in 2000.
McKeown’s brother Malcolm McKeown (54) was shot dead in Waringstown in 2019 as he sat in a BMW parked at the back of a service station. It is believed his death was connected to a drugs feud.
A death notice said McKeown was the “dearly loved brother of Debra, Geoffrey, Trevor, Roderick, Pamela and the late Malcolm” as well as a “loving uncle and great uncle”.
McKeown’s funeral is due to take place in Malcomsons Funeral Home, Lurgan on Saturday at 11am followed by interment in Magheralin Parish Churchyard.
