Killing of former IRA man ‘ruthless’

The murder of a father of nine in a suspected bloody feud between former IRA members was a “ruthless and premeditated” killing, a senior detective has said.

Ex-republican prisoner Kevin McGuigan, 53, was gunned down at point blank range in front of his wife Dolores by two masked men outside the couple’s home in the republican Short Strand area of Belfast on Wednesday night.

Mr McGuigan was suspected by some in the republican movement of involvement in the murder of former IRA leader Gerard “Jock” Davison in the nearby Markets area of Belfast three months ago.