Man charged with 'execution-style' murder of Kevin Conway in Belfast to be released on bail again
A man charged with the “execution-style” murder of Kevin Conway in west Belfast is to be released again on bail, a High Court judge has ruled.
Aidan O’Keefe, 29, is facing prosecution over his alleged role in the killing carried out as part of a gangland feud.
Mr Conway, 26, was gunned down at his home in Rossnareen Park on on January 9, 2024. He had been associated with a notorious criminal organisation known as The Firm and awaiting trial for the murder of Shane Whitla in Lurgan, Co Armagh 12 months previously.
Police revealed previously that Mr Conway was assassinated just minutes after messaging a friend to say he was relaxing by playing a games console.
The killers are believed to have entered his flat and opened fire with a shotgun and a pistol.
O’Keefe and co-accused Fergal Kane, 55, have been charged with the murder as part of a joint enterprise. Both men face a further count of carrying a firearm with intent to commit an indictable offence.
Their addresses in Belfast cannot be reported due to the risk of any attack on them.
Prosecutors have claimed the two defendants travelled in convoy by van and car to the scene of the killing. They are connected by CCTV evidence, a vehicle tracking device and registration plate sightings on the night of the murder, it was alleged.
Previous courts also heard a shotgun cartridge was discovered inside O’Keefe’s work van, and that he is suspected of making Google searches about one-way flights to America in the aftermath of the fatal attack.
He was initially granted High Court bail in October 2024, but detained again last month for allegedly breaching the terms of his release.
Crown counsel said O’Keefe had more than one permitted mobile phone and was stopped in a car registered to another man currently facing terrorism charges.
Opposing his bid to be re-released, she argued that Mr Conway had been the victim of an “execution-style murder” as part of the ongoing feud.
Defence barrister Michael Forde countered that O’Keefe only faces a circumstantial case and has not been identified by any witnesses or CCTV evidence.
He described the alleged breaches as an administrative oversight relating to phones owned by other members of his client’s family.
The technical issue followed a 14-month period where the defendant had complied with all conditions, Mr Forde submitted.
Granting bail again to O’Keefe, Mrs Justice Smyth imposed a series of strict conditions which include a ban on leaving Northern Ireland without obtaining police permission.
The judge also ordered that he is only allowed to travel in a private motor vehicle as a passenger.