Day By Day

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

Northern Ireland -- "Doris Day" Assassinated


AP reports:

One of Northern Ireland's most high-profile Protestant militants - nicknamed "Doris Day" - has been shot dead outside his home, police say.

Two gunmen fired several shots at Jim Gray last night after he answered his door in Protestant east Belfast, his longtime power base.

Detectives covered his body with a white sheet as they combed the yard outside his home for forensic evidence.

No group claimed responsibility for his assassination.

Gray, 43, had been free on bail while awaiting trial on charges of money laundering, concealing stolen property and other offences connected to his past ownership of two Belfast pubs and other property.

Gray had been one of the six regional commanders of the Ulster Defence Association, Northern Ireland's largest outlawed group, until March 30, when colleagues ousted him. Police arrested him a week later in a car containing more than $72,000 in cash.

Gray was both a much-feared and much-lampooned figure. With his year-round tan, shock of bleach-blond hair and penchant for Hawaiian shirts, he was known widely - although rarely to his face - by the nickname Doris Day.

Read it here.

Now the question is -- who dunnit? Is this an internal UDA hit, or are the Catholics involved, or are Blair's boys just cleaning up the trash? The answer could have wider repercussions.


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