Feud began seven years before man’s murder

A personal feud that erupted in 2005 ended with Shane Rossiter being shot dead outside a house in October 2012, an inquest has heard

Mr Rossiter, 30, whose brother Brian, 14, died in 2002, days after being found unconscious in Clonmel Garda Station, was shot in the abdomen and chest at Church Lane in Golden, Co Tipperary, and died a short time later in hospital.

Maurice Power, 31, of Kilmoyler, Cahir, Co Tipperary, is serving a life sentence in prison after being found guilty earlier this year of murdering Mr Rossiter.

The inquest yesterday in Clonmel was told by gardaí the feud between Mr Rossiter and Power was not drugs-related. “It was a feud that erupted in or around 2005 when Shane Rossiter was stabbed by Maurice Power,” said Det Sgt Kevin O’Keeffe.

After the inquest, Shane Rossiter’s father Pat said he was at a loss to understand why his son was killed. “I still don’t figure it. It makes it all the more hard.”

The inquest brought some closure for the Rossiter family, he said, as he left with Shane’s mother, Siobhán.

“We just couldn’t believe that lightning would strike twice in the one place,” he said in relation to the deaths of Shane and Brian.

The jury returned a verdict, on the recommendation of coroner Paul Morris and following medical evidence from state pathologist Marie Cassidy, that death was due to shotgun wounds to the chest and abdomen, resulting in internal blood loss and damage to several organs and blood vessels. This was consistent with unlawful killing.

Paramedic Shane Hoey said he arrived at the scene at 3 Church Lane in Golden on October 17, 2012, at about 6.55am. He saw a male lying on the ground, just inside the front door of the house, and a woman was applying a towel to the victim’s abdomen.

Shane Rossiter was taken by ambulance to hospital in Clonmel but pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

Pat Rossiter, in his deposition, said he hadn’t spoken to his son in over two years. “I broke contact with him because of his lifestyle and the effect it was having on me and my family.”

Mr Rossiter said he didn’t remember Shane ever being involved in drugs, “just general bother”.