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included her body being crushed in the lengthy attack. Hamilton subsequently shot her four times in the head. Rules later told the RUC that he was summoned inside the storeroom where he found Elliot squatting beside Wright, who was lying on the floor with her bloodied head raised over a bucket. Elliot was wearing transparent gloves and scrubbing something off her body; he allegedly commented to Rules, "shot four times in the head and still alive". After she was tossed in a wheelie bin, Elliot ordered three other men to remove her from the premises. The men dumped the fatally injured Wright in the back yard of a derelict house several hundred yards away, and when they returned to the bandhall Elliot shook their hands and clapped them on the back. Following an anonymous tip-off, the RUC broke into the bandhall at 7.00 a.m. as Elliot was supervising the clean-up to remove all traces of blood from the storeroom. One of the men who had transported Wright from the bandhall later told the RUC where to find her but she was already dead when they arrived at the yard behind the vacant house on 7 April. Elliot was arrested twice but released due to lack of evidence, despite police being convinced of his guilt. His accomplices were too frightened of him to reveal his role as the one who ordered
Margaret's Wright's beating and shooting. Rules also told police that he obeyed Elliot's orders out of fear as he had been shot in the leg by Elliot's henchmen on a previous occasion.
241:
His killing was sanctioned by both the UVF and RHC as a punishment for the brutal death of
Margaret Wright which had provoked a public outcry and "tarnished" the RHC's image. According to Jim Cusack and Henry McDonald, Elliot had been a drug dealer and this too had helped to seal his fate as the RHC commander was strongly opposed to drug dealing by members of the organisation. The authors subsequently claimed that the killing had been carried out by
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197:(RUC) Drugs Squad. Allegedly acting under instructions from Elliot, the bandhall chairman Christopher Sheals met her on the dance floor and handed her over to Elliot and UVF man Ian Hamilton (21) for a "grilling" and "rompering" (loyalist paramilitary slang term for a beating and torture session typically followed by execution).
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their pleas rejected by the judge as he was aware of the RHC threat and felt the pleas were thus made under duress. Some of those reporting on the trial asked whether the judge was the man in the wig or the man in the gallery, as the RHC leader attended the trial by sitting in the public gallery throughout.
192:
in the
Village) where there was an all-night drink, drugs and rave music party in progress. The fortified bandhall, whose windows were blocked with concrete, was used as a meeting place for a local loyalist flute band. A sign outside read: "This hall is for band members only – no exceptions". Members
271:
In 1996, two men (Christopher Sheals and
Stephen Rules) were sentenced to life imprisonment for their part in Margaret Wright's murder. The three men who disposed of her body were each jailed for seven years. Elliot's widow Alison was given a three-year suspended jail sentence after she admitted to
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on 28 September 1995. One bullet hit him in the back of the neck and another went through his ear, killing him instantly. When a woman came upon his body, he was still clutching his car keys. Elliot had been lured to the house by other RHC members on the orders of the unnamed commander of the group.
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Several people were arrested and brought to trial for their involvement in Wright's murder and the RHC leader ordered them to plead guilty or face being killed, either in jail or on the outside. At the start of the trial this led to all but one of those charged entering a guilty plea, only to have
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She was taken to the bandhall storeroom, where she was interrogated by Elliot and
Hamilton whilst the bandhall's disc jockey Stephen Rules stood guard outside. Wright, an epileptic, was ordered to strip to her underpants; she was then gagged, hooded, kicked and savagely beaten by the two men which
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Six days later, Ian
Hamilton was shot dead on a football pitch adjacent to a primary school in the Shankill Road area by members of the UVF's "Internal Security Unit" as punishment for his role in the killing. Elliot was branded an outlaw by the UVF. When he was arrested by the RUC for the second
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having helped him change his blood-stained clothing following the killing. Lord
Justice Nicholson said he showed her leniency on account of her two children and the fact that her husband was killed, however "worthless a human being he may have been".
253:(PUP) offered the following statement justifying Elliot's punishment killing: "No one but close relatives will miss Elliot. The fact is, with him gone Northern Ireland's a wee bit safer place for all of us to live".
205:
time in May 1994, he told them he was under a death threat and wore body armour as a means of protection. He then fled to
Scotland for his safety. He returned to Northern Ireland some time after the
117:(RHC) paramilitary organisation. He fled Northern Ireland after being implicated in the brutal 1994 murder of an epileptic Protestant woman, Margaret Wright, who was beaten and shot inside a south
216:
His
Belfast home was burned by an angry mob in retaliation for Wright's killing, and the "Bad Bet" bandhall demolished. The bandhall was just under a mile away from the disused bakery in
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of the Red Hand
Commando, including Elliot, were also present that night. Wright had asked certain questions which led Elliot to believe she was a Catholic or an informant for the
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Elliot was implicated as the leader of the gang which killed Protestant woman Margaret Wright in the early hours of 6 April 1994. The 31-year-old woman from Forthriver Park,
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confessed to Elliot's killing; however he was freed by the Belfast Crown Court two years later after a judge ruled his confessions "inadmissible".
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He had arrived home in Belfast a month before his death incorrectly believing that the loyalist ceasefire made it safe for him to return.
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Elliot left behind a wife, Alison and two children. His wife was amongst those brought to trial for involvement in the murder of Wright.
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Elliot was fatally shot at close range by RHC gunmen as he was getting into his car after leaving a friend's house in Primacy Park,
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125:(RUC). For his part in the murder, Elliot was gunned down by members of his own organisation.
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164:(UVF). He eventually rose in the ranks to become the group's second-in-command. He was also
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245:, a claim Curry himself corroborated in an interview shortly before his own death in 1999.
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465:"Depraved bandhall killers get life; Margaret Wright's murder 'disgusting' says judge".
168:(OC) of the RHC's South Belfast unit. He lived in the staunchly loyalist, working-class
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loyalist bandhall in the mistaken belief that she was a Catholic or informant for the
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343:"Gunman killed death-gang boss; Red Hand Commando chief was a prime suspect (News)"
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ceasefire of 1994, but avoided his old haunts and settled in rural
156:(RHC), a loyalist paramilitary organisation formed in 1972 in the
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592:
485:. Dublin: The Irish Times. 23 November 1995. Archived from
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Under questioning in 1998 by the RUC, Thomas Maginnis of
511:. London: The Mirror. 29 February 1996. Archived from
363:"Man held on fatal shooting of paramilitary suspect"
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140:(RHC) mural. Elliot was the RHC's second-in-command
109:(c. 1964 – 28 September 1995) was a Northern Irish
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47:
30:
23:
391:"UDA fury as leader lets hated killer come home".
412:"Judge frees man who confessed to four murders".
160:area of Belfast and closely affiliated with the
1290:Ulster Loyalist Central Co-ordinating Committee
565:"Some Irish 'loyalists' threaten cease-fire".
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483:"Defendant cleaned up after woman was killed"
461:
459:
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432:. London: The Independent via. Archived from
428:Kelsey, Tim; Usborne, David (10 April 1994).
188:"Bad Bet" bandhall in Meridi Street (off the
8:
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1168:Murders of Andrew Robb and David McIlwaine
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321:Cusack, Jim & McDonald, Henry (1997).
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365:. Dublin: The Irish Times. Archived from
1356:People killed by loyalist paramilitaries
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317:
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311:
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1081:Donnelly's Bar and Kay's Tavern attacks
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540:, Mainstream Publishing, 2008, p. 1383
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294:
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1351:Deaths by firearm in Northern Ireland
1280:Ulster Constitution Defence Committee
1087:October 1975 Northern Ireland attacks
7:
569:. Shawn Pogatchnik. 13 October 1995.
1323:indicates brigadiers and commanders
430:"Shebeen killing sickens loyalists"
416:. David Sharrock. 30 September 2000
301:CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths – 1995
65:Gunshot wounds to the head and neck
1250:Combined Loyalist Military Command
669:Unnamed Chief of Staff (1974–1975)
361:Grogan, Dick (30 September 1995).
207:Combined Loyalist Military Command
16:Irish loyalist paramilitary leader
14:
1156:1994 Dublin-Belfast train bombing
549:Jim Cusack & Henry McDonald,
220:where another Protestant woman,
1300:Ulster Workers' Council strike
509:"Loyalists shot their own men"
1:
1040:1972 and 1973 Dublin bombings
1051:Dublin and Monaghan bombings
1045:Rose & Crown Bar bombing
345:. Belfast. 12 December 1997.
113:and a leading member of the
1366:Paramilitaries from Belfast
1305:Volunteer (Ulster loyalist)
749:William "Frenchie" Marchant
51:28 September 1995 (aged 31)
1382:
1265:Progressive Unionist Party
1092:Reavey and O'Dowd killings
1063:Bleary Darts Club shooting
883:David Alexander Mulholland
251:Progressive Unionist Party
226:Ulster Defence Association
152:family, Elliot joined the
1361:Red Hand Commando members
1318:
1310:Volunteer Political Party
807:Harry "Harmless" Stockman
626:
195:Royal Ulster Constabulary
123:Royal Ulster Constabulary
1260:Loyalist Volunteer Force
1162:Quinn brothers' killings
1057:1975 Conway's Bar attack
986:Young Citizen Volunteers
536:David McKittrick et al,
1145:1991 Craigavon killings
1075:Miami Showband killings
981:Protestant Action Force
790:Robert "Squeak" Seymour
686:Belfast Brigade members
578:Cusack & McDonald,
553:, Poolbeg, 2008, p. 382
176:Margaret Wright killing
172:area of south Belfast.
1150:Loughinisland massacre
1104:Charlemont pub attacks
1028:Imperial Hotel bombing
1022:Battle at Springmartin
1010:Battle of St Matthew's
672:Tommy West (1975–1976)
620:Ulster Volunteer Force
418:Retrieved 25 June 2012
303:Retrieved 25 June 2012
162:Ulster Volunteer Force
141:
1140:1991 Drumbeg killings
1134:1991 Cappagh killings
1098:Hillcrest Bar bombing
944:Winston Churchill Rea
837:Mark "Swinger" Fulton
136:
1122:Glasgow pub bombings
1016:McGurk's Bar bombing
842:William James Fulton
676:John "Bunter" Graham
184:had been inside the
148:in about 1964 to an
1275:Ulster Army Council
1128:Avenue Bar shooting
1110:Chlorane Bar attack
469:. 29 February 1996.
238:Bangor, County Down
62:Cause of death
55:Bangor, County Down
1203:The Miami Showband
1191:John Francis Green
1069:Strand Bar bombing
1004:RTÉ Studio bombing
823:Mid-Ulster Brigade
813:James "Tonto" Watt
567:The Sunday Gazette
436:on 25 January 2013
249:of the UVF-linked
166:Officer Commanding
142:
42:, Northern Ireland
1328:
1327:
1295:Ulster Volunteers
1178:Prominent victims
1116:Ramble Inn attack
1034:Belturbet bombing
976:Shankill Butchers
915:Red Hand Commando
893:Wesley Somerville
652:Samuel McClelland
395:. 28 October 2007
393:Belfast Telegraph
154:Red Hand Commando
150:Ulster Protestant
144:Born in Belfast,
138:Red Hand Commando
129:Red Hand Commando
115:Red Hand Commando
104:
103:
84:second-in-command
82:Red Hand Commando
1373:
1243:Related articles
964:Units and groups
878:Robert McConnell
784:George Seawright
774:Clifford Peeples
727:Billy Hutchinson
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325:. Poolbeg. p.328
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247:Billy Hutchinson
182:Glencairn estate
146:Northern Ireland
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705:Frankie Curry
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904:Billy Wright
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888:Lindsay Robb
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801:Billy Spence
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769:Lenny Murphy
731:
721:Mark Haddock
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710:David Ervine
699:John Bingham
697:
693:Robert Bates
646:Gusty Spence
631:the Troubles
629:
579:
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566:
551:UVF: Endgame
550:
545:
537:
517:. Retrieved
513:the original
503:
491:. Retrieved
487:the original
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438:. Retrieved
434:the original
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371:. Retrieved
367:the original
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215:
203:
199:
179:
143:
106:
105:
25:Billy Elliot
18:
1346:1995 deaths
1341:1964 births
1209:Maire Drumm
1197:Billy Hanna
848:Billy Hanna
764:John Murphy
739:Bobby McKee
733:Trevor King
715:Billy Giles
678:(1976-date)
660:(1973–1974)
654:(1966–1973)
277:Newtownards
70:Nationality
1335:Categories
868:Robin King
664:Ken Gibson
538:Lost Lives
283:References
222:Ann Ogilby
1185:Jim Hanna
898:John Weir
658:Jim Hanna
218:Sandy Row
213:instead.
111:loyalist
97:Children
996:Actions
917:members
825:members
628:during
519:26 June
493:26 June
440:26 June
373:26 June
211:Cloughy
170:Village
119:Belfast
73:British
40:Belfast
1235:(2000)
1229:(2000)
1223:(1994)
1217:(1987)
1211:(1976)
1205:(1975)
1199:(1975)
1193:(1975)
1187:(1974)
1170:(2000)
1164:(1998)
1158:(1994)
1152:(1994)
1136:(1991)
1130:(1988)
1124:(1979)
1118:(1976)
1112:(1976)
1106:(1976)
1100:(1976)
1094:(1976)
1083:(1975)
1077:(1975)
1071:(1975)
1065:(1975)
1059:(1975)
1053:(1974)
1047:(1974)
1036:(1972)
1030:(1972)
1024:(1972)
1018:(1971)
1012:(1970)
1006:(1969)
666:(1974)
648:(1966)
228:unit.
89:Spouse
263:Trial
232:Death
1321:bold
1270:Tara
521:2012
495:2012
442:2012
375:2012
48:Died
31:Born
580:UVF
323:UVF
1337::
558:^
529:^
474:^
450:^
400:^
384:^
351:^
330:^
308:^
291:^
612:e
605:t
598:v
523:.
497:.
444:.
379:=
377:.
100:2
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