Shot ex-garda was linked to dog breeder’s murder

A murder investigation was under way last night after a former garda was shot dead at his home outside Bailieborough, Co Cavan.

Gardaí initially thought John Keirns might have killed himself, as he was shot in the mouth. But they were immediately suspicious as no gun was found at the scene.

There were also two bullet exit wounds to his head.

One leading line of inquiry is his suspected link to the disappearance and suspected murder of a man in Bailieborough last year.

Dog breeder and bouncer Gerard Daly, from Tallaght, Dublin, moved to Bailieborough in 2007, but vanished from his home in Jun 2011. Keirns and Daly knew each other and gardaí suspect they had plans to breed dogs for the security trade.

It is understood gardaí received a statement from a person who claimed that Keirns had confessed that both he and another man had killed Mr Daly.

Officers will also investigate possible links to Keirns’ involvement in handling stolen plant machinery.

Last April, he was arrested in Cork after being stopped in a van carrying €20,000 worth of machinery stolen from a business in Mallow. His case was sent forward for trial to the circuit court.

After joining the force in 1983, he served in Crumlin, Dublin, for four years, followed by a two-year stint in the Garda Bureau of Fraud Investigation. He was then moved to Kells Garda Station in Meath.

In Sept 2001, he threw his torch at a car driven by joyriders which went through a checkpoint in Meath, resulting in an injury to an 18-year-old occupant, who subsequently died.

Keirns became ill in 2005 and was medically discharged in 2009.

A former colleague said: “He was not a pleasant individual and people were not sorry when he left.”

Keirns, who was estranged from his wife, moved to a detached property at Cornaveagh, 7km from Bailie-borough, several years ago.

A preliminary autopsy was conducted before the body was removed for a full autopsy today at Cavan General Hospital.

lGardaí are appealing to anybody in the Cornaveagh area of Bailieborough between 5pm on Thursday and 8am yesterday who may have seen anything suspicious to contact Bailieborough station at 042 9665102, the Garda confidential line on 1800 666 111 or any Garda station.