The Shankill Butchers Read online

  Kneecapping was a punishment used on joy riders, drug-takers, thieves and sex offenders. Other forms of punishment were beatings with baseball bats or the use of an electric power drill on the kneecaps. A bizarre dimension to such punishments was revealed to me by Jim Nesbitt, who was given this account of a kneecapping by the victim: ‘I was pissed one night and was on my way home when I looked into a bar and thought that it would be fun to scare the hell out of all the people in there. I had a gun on me at the time so I took it out, walked up to the door, opened it, and fired a few rounds into the bar. It was a UDA pub and members of that organization complained to my superiors in the UVF and demanded that I should be punished. I was court-martialled and thought I was gonna get a “head job” but they believed me when I told them I was pissed and had not intended on killing anybody. I was relieved when they told me that I was only going to be kneecapped. I knew the guys who were given the job of shooting me so I was certain that they would not do me too much damage. The only problem was that they came to collect me at a bar on a Sunday and I was wearing a new suit which I had just bought in Burtons. I asked them if they would let me pull up my trouser legs so that the suit would not get damaged as well. They were kind about it and allowed me to do this before they shot me through the knees.’

  Murphy told his volunteers that the men they sought would be shot through the back of the knees to create the maximum damage. He gave his unit twenty-four hours to find the men he believed to be guilty, and ordered that they be brought to the Brown Bear for interrogation. Within the specified time Murphy returned to the Brown Bear where his men were holding the suspects. They were Roger McCrea, Edward Bell and the infamous joy rider, Stewartie Robinson.

  When Murphy walked into the upstairs room of the Brown Bear, Bell, McCrea and Robinson were seated in chairs surrounded by members of the unit. Murphy approached the three suspects and demanded to know if they were guilty of the robbery. At first the three were reticent and denied any knowledge of the crime. Moore stepped forward and said he had evidence from an associate that the three of them had bought drinks in the Windsor Bar from the proceeds of the crime. When this allegation failed to elicit a response, Moore, McAllister and Bates harassed the three hostages and began beating them, but to no avail. Murphy opted for stronger action; he produced his 9mm Browning pistol from inside his jacket and pointed it at Bell then slowly placed the barrel against his forehead. Deliberately and slowly he repeated the exercise with McCrea and Robinson. He then stepped back and warned the three that he would give them thirty seconds to admit their guilt or he would shoot them. No one doubted that the threat was genuine. Robinson broke down and admitted that he was involved, but demanded mercy on the basis that the old lady had not been hurt. The other two, hoping to impress upon Murphy the mild nature of the crime, echoed Robinson’s statement. Murphy was unimpressed and ordered Moore, Bates and McAllister to continue the beating while others held down the three suspects in chairs. Murphy ordered several volunteers to go downstairs to the bar and fetch cardboard and string so that placards could be made to be hung around the necks of the ‘criminals’. His intention was that each placard should cany details of the crime committed by the three so that when they were discovered after having been kneecapped it would be apparent to all that the punishment was for robbery and other crimes. It was known that the media would carry details of such a shooting and this would serve as a deterrent as well as demonstrate that the Brigade Staff was making a determined effort to clean up the Shankill. The placards, when eventually prepared, read: ‘Shot for crimes against the Loyalist people’.

  Moore was told to fetch his taxi and drive it to the front of the Brown Bear so the three ‘criminals’ could be transported to a disused garage some half a mile away, where the punishment would be administered. The firing party chosen by Murphy consisted of Archie Waller, Sam McAllister and William Arlow Green. Green at this stage was enjoying his freedom before being caught and sentenced for the killings at Casey’s Wine Lodge. Mr A. was asked to give a gun to each member of the firing party, who were told to travel in a separate vehicle. Lenny elected to travel in Moore’s taxi so that he could hold Robinson and his associates at gunpoint until they reached the venue for the shooting. When Murphy, his captives and the firing party met at the garage a curious ritual ensued, masterminded as always by Murphy, with Mr A. present. The three thieves were ordered to hang the placards around their necks. They were then told to lie face downwards. Murphy addressed the firing party and told them to open fire on his orders. Waller was made to stand over Robinson, McAllister was led to a point where he was looking down on Bell, and Green was given the task of shooting McCrea. Murphy stood by with his pistol in his hand ensuring that everything was satisfactory. At the moment when Murphy ordered the weapons to be cocked, Robinson panicked, rose quickly to his feet and ran towards the garage entrance. Murphy was slow to react but Waller responded quickly and shot Robinson in the back. Some twenty seconds elapsed while everyone stared at Robinson lying face downwards with blood oozing onto the garage floor. Murphy, determined not to be sidetracked from the task in hand, brusquely ordered McAllister and Green to proceed with the kneecapping of the other men. This having been achieved, members of the unit other than the firing party were told to take Robinson’s body and dump it in a nearby alley in the hope it would be seen as a crime unconnected with kneecapping. Murphy walked over to McCrea and Bell who were writhing on the floor and warned them not to reveal that Robinson had been shot dead or they too would be hunted down and shot. He ordered his men to return to the Brown Bear and left the two injured men to crawl to the roadway for assistance.

  Murphy knew the killing of Robinson was not within his remit and would be construed as a failure to obey orders. Furthermore, Robinson was a member of the Windsor Bar team and its volunteers would take a serious view of the killing. It is an incredible fact that, within the subculture of a paramilitary world, punishments of varying degrees were applicable according to the gravity of the offence. When it came to their respective terror campaigns no such gradations applied to the atrocities committed.

  When the Windsor Bar unit discovered that one of its members had been shot dead, an enquiry was quickly carried out to find the culprits. It did not take much time to deduce that the kneecappings and the murder were connected. It became common knowledge that Murphy and his men were responsible, but no one was willing to point the finger at Murphy personally. While I was writing this book it was suggested to me by a member of the UVF that Murphy put it about privately that Archie Waller murdered Robinson during a personal quarrel, but the truth of that claim remains unknown. However, Murphy kept up the pretence that he ordered the kneecapping of McCrea and Bell but knew nothing about the demise of Robinson. He was summoned to a meeting of the Brigade Staff at which the leader of the Windsor Bar unit was present. He told those present that Bell and McCrea had admitted their guilt in relation to the Shankill Road robbery but when quizzed about the death of Robinson, he replied that the death was in no way connected with the activities of his men. One is forced to ask why Lenny Murphy’s answers were believed. The fear he inculcated, from Brigade Staff members down, was such that no one dared to accuse him of lying. However, the leader of the Windsor Bar team was an unusual exception. He did not accept Murphy’s explanation and conducted his own clandestine enquiry. McCrea and Bell were visited in hospital and questioned about the episode. They did not divulge precise details of what occurred in the disused garage other than admit it was Murphy and his associates who carried out the kneecapping. However, someone did leak an important detail about the shooting of Robinson: Waller was named as the trigger man. Retribution was swift, following a sanction from Brigade Staff to kill Waller. Sanction was granted on the basis that Waller alone should be shot since any further revenge action might lead to a feud within the organization.

  Within a day of Brigade Staff agreeing to the killing of Waller, a three-man assassination squad was dispatched from the Wind
sor Bar to find Waller and shoot him without indulging in the preliminaries of interrogation and torture. They found him seated conveniently behind the wheel of a car in a Shankill Road side street with McAllister as his front-seat passenger. The three-man team approached Waller’s car on foot but before they reached the vehicle McAllister got out of the car and ran away. Waller did not react but sat in the car while the hit-squad produced guns. One of them walked to the window beside Waller and shot him at point-blank range, killing him instantly. It is a strange fact that Waller did not move after McAllister hastily left the vehicle. Could Waller have thought that the men approaching his car were in search of McAllister? Had McAllister deliberately and conveniently given him that impression? Had Murphy used McAllister to set up Waller because he knew that someone had to pay the penalty for shooting Robinson?

  McAllister knew the identity of the men who approached the car and was able to tell Murphy who fired the fatal shots, which indicated that McAllister had watched the murder from a safe distance. News of Waller’s death was conveyed to Murphy in the Brown Bear where he was drinking with some of his associates. Moore later recalled that Murphy behaved like ‘a madman’ when McAllister described how Waller met his death. Waller was, after all, one of those who tortured Crossan before Murphy cut his throat. Murphy reacted to the news by calling for a meeting of all the members of his unit Moore, McAllister and Bates were told to travel around West Belfast and contact every volunteer, making it clear that the meeting was mandatory. Mr A. and Mr B. were the first to arrive at the Brown Bear and were informed that the shooting of Waller could not go unpunished since this could lead to other members of the UVF in West Belfast quickly getting the idea that the Windsor Bar team were a law unto themselves; when the whole unit was assembled, Murphy reiterated this view. There is little doubt that Murphy saw this episode as a test of his power as a self-styled leader, not only in the eyes of those under his command but also other Shankill UVF units. During the meeting Murphy was agitated, gesticulating with his Browning pistol and demanding retaliation. One man who was present described the scene as being almost like a prayer meeting except for the pistol display by Murphy. McAllister was asked by Murphy to give a detailed account of the manner in which Waller was ‘executed’ and to name those responsible. While the unit sat enthralled, McAllister described how he was sitting in the car but had managed to escape within seconds of Waller being shot. No one sought to ask why Waller remained seated in the car, seemingly oblivious to his imminent death. Murphy controlled the meeting to the extent that when McAllister named Waller’s killers as Noel (‘Nogi’) Shaw, Dessie Balmer and Roy Stewart, Murphy allowed individual members of the unit to express their anger and lay plans to avenge Waller’s death. Murphy, in essence, allowed the temperature to heighten without offering an opinion and finally called the meeting to an end with the express wish that all members of his team should meet during the afternoon of Sunday 30 November, at the Brown Bear. Murphy left the Brown Bear in a black mood and allowed his men to remain there to drink and smoulder with anger over the killing of one of their own.

  If one examines Murphy’s behaviour at the meeting, there are several factors to be borne in mind, one of them an incident unseen by the men under his command. Murphy was not willing to advocate action against the three men named by McAllister until he had thoroughly examined the possible consequences with Mr A. and Mr B. in private. This was because the man who pulled the trigger during the Waller killing, Nogi Shaw, was expendable, as was Balmer, but Stewart represented a threat because of his close relationship with the leader of the Windsor Bar team. Again, a curious morality was operating, in that Stewart could be spared because he had worth in terms of someone in authority and yet the other two could be sacrificed though their deaths might well create a more serious feud. Murphy concluded that to kill two in revenge for Waller’s death would assert his authority to a point which would preclude retaliation. If he were also to kill Stewart he would be inviting the prospect of all-out war with the Windsor Bar unit simply because the leader of that unit viewed highly his friendship with Robinson.

  Murphy did not make it clear to his men that the Stewart factor was an obstacle in his thoughts nor did he point out that he had no intention of seeking approval from the Brigade Staff for avenging Waller’s death. He was determined to prove to his men that no one could stand in his way when his power was threatened. Prior to the meeting on the following day, Murphy changed the venue from the Brown Bear to the Lawnbrook Social Club. This was a shrewd move to avoid detection on the Shankill Road where there was a remote possibility of a response from the Windsor Bar team. Also, Sunday was traditionally a quiet day with most shops closed on the Shankill Road and any unusual activity would quickly be noticed. The Lawnbrook Social Club was in a discreet location and, unlike the downstairs bar of the Brown Bear, entrance could be restricted to his unit members by means of a telephone request to those who officially looked after the club.

  At 2.00 P.M. on Sunday 30 November Murphy addressed all his men in the lounge of the Lawnbrook and told them the three men involved in the murder of Archie Waller would be ‘wiped out’ that day. While this announcement was being made most of the men in the room were either drinking or ordering drinks at the bar. Murphy added that he was not concerned which of the three had pulled the trigger; as far as he was concerned they all had to die. What he did not reveal to his men was that he had arranged for someone to contact Stewart to tell him not to be in the vicinity of the Shankill for forty-eight hours, by which time, as Murphy saw it, the matter would be resolved. Moore, McAllister and Bates were told to leave their drinks aside and take Moore’s taxi to the Windsor Bar and once inside the premises they were to pick up any of the three being sought. They were warned not to cause a scene in the bar but to request, with adequate persuasion, Shaw, Balmer or Stewart to leave with them on the basis that ‘Lenny wished to talk to them’. Murphy knew that on the strength of his reputation most members of the UVF would accede to such a request and would understand the penalty for refusing. In the event, only Shaw was to be found drinking alone in the Windsor and was forcibly removed without interference from anyone. He was bundled roughly into Moore’s taxi and driven to the Lawnbrook. When they arrived outside, McAllister demonstrated his physical strength by dragging Shaw from the taxi while Moore and Bates rushed into the club to inform Lenny they had been successful in apprehending one of the men wanted by him. As Shaw was dragged into the club, drinks were abandoned and he was set upon, kicked and beaten by those who fought to get closest to him. After several minutes, Murphy and Mr A. intervened and requested that Shaw be carried to the front of a small wooden stage normally used by musicians. Murphy placed a chair on the stage and Shaw was then strapped to it. The stage overlooked the whole of the club and its drinking environs and while Shaw was being tied to the chair Murphy summoned his men to leave the bar and move closer to the stage. Most of the twenty or so men obeyed, taking their drinks with them. Murphy left the stage for several minutes and returned brandishing a Browning pistol. While the others waited in anticipation, he walked to the front of the stage and to within a few feet of Shaw. He addressed the assembled drinkers telling them that the man in front of them was Archie Waller’s killer. Not content with this assertion, Murphy said it was time to interrogate Shaw and commenced striking him several times across the head and face with the pistol butt. He continued beating Shaw to a background chorus of ‘kill the bastard’. When he received an admission of guilt he told Shaw he was going to be killed. By now, eighteen-year-old Shaw was crying both with pain and fear while Murphy and Mr A. discussed whether straws should be drawn to select the man to pull the trigger. Straws were eventually drawn but the young man selected to be executioner indicated unwillingness. Murphy reacted angrily by telling the unwilling man that he would be dealt with later. He turned to the others and said, ‘I’ll fuckin’ show you all how it’s done.’

  On hearing these words Shaw broke loose from the binding o
n his wrists but was unable to free the strapping round his ankles. Murphy remained unconcerned and slowly drew back the carriage of his pistol, releasing a bullet into the chamber. Shaw instinctively put his left hand to his temple as Murphy casually levelled the gun at his head. Murphy pulled the trigger of the Browning and the first bullet went through Shaw’s wrist. Four more bullets followed in quick succession, forming a circle of holes in the side of Shaw’s head and sending the chair and victim crashing to the floor. Shaw died instantly, one of the bullets remaining lodged in his brain and the others exiting the skull and impacting against the wall at the back of the bar. Murphy stood motionless for at least one minute looking down at Shaw. He finally turned to those watching and said, ‘Clean up the fuckin’ mess.’

  Mr A. undertook the task of disposing of the body by first sending a volunteer to hijack a black taxi in which the body could be transported to an area sufficiently well removed from the Lawnbrook. Other volunteers were dispatched to find cloths to wash the floor and the stage where blood was spilled. Meanwhile Murphy stood at the bar, drink in hand, watching the cleaning-up exercise. Mr A. joined him and they discussed whether or not the body should be covered until the taxi arrived. Mr A. suggested putting the body inside a linen basket as this would facilitate removal from the club and avoid arousing the suspicion of passers-by. Murphy agreed to this, and Shaw’s body, in foetal position, was shoved into a basket taken from the club’s storeroom. The lid was closed while those present continued drinking. Moore was given the job of driving the taxi with the linen basket aboard. He abandoned both taxi and linen basket in an alley off Urney Street, almost a mile away in the Shankill area.