Renewed appeal on ninth anniversary of Mayo man's murder

TOMORROW (Sunday, December 18) will mark the ninth anniversary of the murder of Mayo man Owen Maughan.

Owen was fatally wounded when he was shot at a service station on the Moneen Road in Castlebar at 3.30 p.m. on Wednesday, December 18, 2013. He was 26 years old.

Owen and his wife Anne lived locally. They were married for eight years and had a very close relationship.

Early on the morning of December 18, Owen and Anne headed into town to run a few errands.

Later that afternoon they went home and Anne prepared lunch. Owen left to go to a nearby service station to fill up some water canisters.

At the station, a number of shots were fired from a car. The vehicle is described as a BMW Estate car which was graphite grey in colour.

Gardaí know that the BMW Estate car was stolen from a hotel near Dublin Airport, on December 6, 2013. Gardaí believe this vehicle was in the Dublin area for some time after this and would have refuelled a number of times.

The registration of the car was 06G3981. The car was fitted with cloned registration plates - this number was 09D30024.

Following the shooting, this car travelled out the Claremorris road and was discovered two days later at Derryvohey in Mayo, destroyed by fire.

Despite extensive garda enquiries, no arrests have been made in relation to this investigation.

Nine years on, gardaí and Owen's family are appealing for people to come forward to assist with the investigation.

Gardaí would encourage anyone with information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, to come forward to them.

Persons with information can contact Castlebar Garda Station on (094) 9038200, the Garda Confidential Line 1800-666-111 or any Garda Station.