Gardaí set to identify car blaze bodies

Gardaí expect to get confirmation in the coming days of the identities of the two men shot and torched near the border in Co Louth.

The bodies of the two men were recovered by firefighters after they put out a blazing car in woodland near Dundalk last Wednesday night.

While waiting for official confirmation, gardaí believe they are Joseph Redmond, 25, of Ballybough House, Ballybough, and Anthony Burnett, 31, of Croke Villas, Ballybough, in Dublin’s north inner city.

Investigating officers hope to have the results of DNA tests and dental examinations this week.

Redmond and Burnett were shot dead and their black Volkswagen Golf, which had been stolen over a week ago in Sandymount, south Dublin, was set ablaze. The pair have a long history of drug addiction and criminality, but they are not considered serious criminals or members of an organised crime gang.

Detectives are investigating a number of lines of inquiry in their investigation.

One team of officers is examining a possible connection with two criminal brothers from the Kilbarrack area of north Dublin, who are suspected of being behind a number of murders in recent years.

These include the double murder of two innocent men who were gunned down at a petrol station in Dublin after being mistaken for members of a rival gang.

Glen Murphy, 19, and Mark Noonan, 23, were shot dead as they went to buy some items from the petrol station in November 2010. Detectives are also investigating whether or not last Wednesday’s double murder was connected to the robbery and assault of a girlfriend of a man linked with an international Irish drug trafficker.

Police seized two cars in south Armagh last Friday which are being examined.

Gardaí are working with their PSNI counterparts to establish a connection.