KINAHAN thug Thomas ‘Nicky’ McConnell attempted to distance himself from the Gareth Hutch murder by claiming he sold the intended getaway car to his hit-team crony before the shooting.
The Irish Sun can reveal he named Jonathan Keogh as the man he flogged the BMW X5 to as he feigned his innocence over the 2016 assassination.
But the 39-year-old career criminal last week joined his pal Keogh in prison as he was handed down a mandatory life sentence.
We have learned that both McConnell and Keogh had come onto the radar of working for Daniel Kinahan’s mob in two murders before Hutch was targeted.
Detectives investigated if McConnell had acted as a ‘spotter’ in the murder of Real IRA gangster Vinnie Ryan in February 2016.
Keogh was suspected of carrying out the same role less than two months later when Michael Barr was plugged at the Sunset House pub in Dublin’s north inner city.
The two men had been long-time associates, having been incarcerated together in Mountjoy Prison’s training unit in 2006.
A decade later they joined forces to take out dad-of-one Hutch at the Avondale flat complex in Dublin’s north inner city.
The pair watched Hutch’s flat from another home before ambushing him on the morning of May 24, 2016.
Hutch was shot four times, two in the back of his neck, one to his back and another one to his chest.
But as the hit team attempted to flee, the BMW X5 – which they had parked in the complex the day beforehand – failed to start.
They were forced to abandon their initial plan and run to McConnell’s Skoda Octavia parked on Champions Avenue nearby to get out of there.
That car was later found burned out in Finglas.
Their botched plan left both men vulnerable because they did not get a chance to burn the BMW and their DNA had been left behind in it.
Sources revealed how McConnell attempted to distance himself from the vehicle by claiming he had sold the motor to Keogh the night before the killing.
He later spun a variation of the tale, telling investigators that he sold the car to someone who was similar looking to himself.
‘DISPOSABLE TO ONE ANOTHER’
A source told us: “The breakdown of the plan with the BMW caused significant issues for the hit team. Nothing McConnell said stacked up and it was all disproven by gardai.
“The fact McConnell mentioned Keogh’s name at one stage highlights how these guys operate – good friends but absolutely disposable to one another too.”
It was just one of the many lies which McConnell was caught on as gardai built a comprehensive case against him.
They also relied on phone data linking him to the other plotters in the murder, along with CCTV that connected him with cars used.
CRIME TRIO
The Irish Sun today publishes a picture of McConnell arm-in-arm with his INLA associates Keogh and the feared Gerard Macken.
The trio were snapped enjoying a night out together before the Kinahan cartel turned to them in their bloody war against the Hutches.
Macken – a Limerick criminal who was once jailed for nailing a man to a floor – was previously tasked by mob boss Kinahan to take out Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch.
McConnell – whose older brother Ian was gunned down in their native Ballymun in 2005 – had over 100 convictions.
OTHERS JAILED
He was the fourth person convicted over Hutch’s killing, with Keogh, his older sister Regina and Thomas ‘Tossy’ Fox also serving life.
Following McConnell’s sentencing, Gareth Hutch’s mother Vera revealed her ongoing torment.
She said: “Since I received the devastating news that my son Gareth was murdered, I have not known a moment’s peace. My chest has a constant ache that never goes away.”
Detective Superintendent Colm Murphy hailed his colleagues for their work on the near nine-year investigation.
