Body found in North was chief suspect in murder case

A man whose dismembered body was discovered in a rubbish bin in the North last Monday was the chief suspect in a murder case.

Although William David McClatchey was arrested, he was never tried for the murder after a witness refused to give evidence.

In March 1997, John Slane aged 44 was in his home on the Falls Road boiling a kettle to make up bottles for his baby twin daughters.

Two unmasked loyalist gunmen from across the motorway smashed into his home and shot him dead in the kitchen.

McClatchey was later picked out of an ID parade and charged but the witness was too afraid to appear in court and the case was dropped for lack of evidence.

When the dismembered body was named, Mr Slane's son, Sean, said a very violent man had met a very violent death himself.

Louise Slane, who was 14 when her father was shot, said her mother had never recovered and had had to bring up seven children on her own.