UDA challenged on reason for murder
As police questioned a man in connection with the discovery of McCullough’s body on the outskirts of Belfast on Thursday, members of Adair’s former C Company disputed the claims of former comrades that he was murdered because of his role in a bitter feud within the organisation.
McCullough, 21, went missing on May 28 after leaving his west Belfast home with members of the Ulster Freedom Fighters.
He had previously fled to Scotland in February with Adair’s wife Gina, their close associate John White and other supporters after the UDA leadership forced them out of their Lower Shankill Road power base.
Police confirmed McCullough’s body was discovered yesterday in a shallow grave near a country road in Mallusk, Co Antrim.
In a statement issued to a Belfast newsroom late on Thursday night, the UFF linked McCullough to the murders of UDA South Antrim Brigadier John Gregg in February and Jonathan Stewart at Christmas.
Gregg, a bitter rival of Adair’s, died in a hail of bullets in Belfast docks along with fellow UDA member Robert Carson as they returned from a Glasgow Rangers match.
Responding to the UDA’s claims, members of Adair’s former C Company denied the 21-year-old had anything to do with the murders of Stewart and Gregg and they pointed at an individual who they said had knowledge of both killings.
McCullough’s body was discovered yesterday when workmen in Mallusk tipped off police that they had spotted what appeared to be a body in a shallow grave. Police immediately sealed off the area around the Aughnabrack Road.
