A car used in the murder of teenager Keane Mulready-Woods was identified after a “drive-off” at a petrol station in Dublin in the aftermath of the killing.
The “unbelievable blunder” played a major role in identifying the criminals involved.
The Volvo was later found burnt out, with the 17-year-old Drogheda boy’s head and feet inside.
Details of the car had been entered on the garda system after the driver sped off from the petrol station without paying.
It was discovered in Ballybough, Dublin, on January 16, 2020. The teenager had been murdered days earlier by a crime gang.
A source said: “This drive-off from the Finglas petrol station led us to be able to trace everything else, to track and map the crime and the suspects.
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“It is almost unbelievable that criminals in the process of disposing of body parts in one of the most shocking and gruesome murders would draw attention to themselves by not paying for their fuel.”
The boy’s limbs were found in a Puma bag at a house in Coolock, Dublin, and his torso in Drogheda.
The chief suspect for the murder, hitman Robbie Lawlor, was shot dead in Belfast in April 2020.
On Friday, two men who drove the teenager to the house in Drogheda where he was murdered were jailed by the Special Criminal Court.
Paul Crosby (27), from Rathmullan Park, Drogheda, and Gerard Cruise (49), of Sherard Street, Dublin, admitted facilitating the murder of Mulready-Woods between January 11 and 13, 2020. Crosby was jailed for 10 years and Cruise for seven.
Crosby had met the teenager on the day he went missing, paid his taxi fare and took him to a car where Cruise drove them to the laneway at the back of the house in Rathmullan Park where the boy was killed.
Both men apologised for what had happened, with Cruise insisting he did not know the teen was to be murdered.
Five more men likely to face charges after two jailed over Drogheda teenager Keane Mulready-Woods’ killing
Murdered teen Keane Mulready-Woods ‘was just a child trying to make his way in life’, says retired garda who led investigation
Keane Mulready-Woods: Within 48 hours of teen’s brutal murder, the net was closing in and the perpetrators identified