3 December 1998 Edition
Back issue: Twentieth victim of loyalist killers
A loyalist murder squad gunned down Phelim McNally as he stood in the kitchen of his brother's home near Coagh, County Tyrone, on Thursday evening 24 November. McNally is the 20th victim of loyalist assassination squads this year.
The killers struck at the remote Derryorin Road home of Cookstown Sinn Fein Councillor Francis McNally shortly before 10.30pm. Francis, his wife and their children were standing in the kitchen with Phelim, who was visiting at the time, when there was a knock at the door. Francis McNally asked the caller to identify himself. When he failed to do so Francis switched out the kitchen light and went to a bedroom window to check who was there.
Just as Francis spotted a man in a balaclava at the front of the house, he heard two sustained bursts of automatic fire. The shots had been fired by a second gunman who fired into the darkened kitchen. Phelim McNally died instantly. The other family members in the room escaped injury as bullets tore into walls and furniture.
The killers struck at the remote Derryorin Road home of Cookstown Sinn Fein Councillor Francis McNally shortly before 10.30pm. Francis, his wife and their children were standing in the kitchen with Phelim, who was visiting at the time, when there was a knock at the door. Francis McNally asked the caller to identify himself. When he failed to do so Francis switched out the kitchen light and went to a bedroom window to check who was there.
Just as Francis spotted a man in a balaclava at the front of the house, he heard two sustained bursts of automatic fire. The shots had been fired by a second gunman who fired into the darkened kitchen. Phelim McNally died instantly. The other family members in the room escaped injury as bullets tore into walls and furniture.