| Murder of Thomas Oliver | |
|---|---|
| Date | July 18, 1991; 34 years ago (1991-07-18) |
Attack type | Abduction,torture murder |
| Victim | Thomas Oliver, aged 43 |
| Perpetrator | Provisional Irish Republican Army |
| Motive | Passing information to theGarda Síochána |
Thomas Oliver was a 43-year-oldIrish farmer who wastortured and murdered by theProvisional Irish Republican Army in July 1991, reportedly for passing information to theGarda Síochána. However, in the wake of theStakeknife case it began to be suspected thatFreddie Scappaticci – who ran the IRA'sInternal Security Unit, which was responsible for torturing and killing Thomas Oliver – killed Oliver to conceal his identity as a double agent.
A farmer with no connections to any paramilitary group or the security forces, Oliver was a 43-year-old father of seven children,[1] and a native of Riverstown, County Louth, on theCooleypeninsula, nearDundalk. He was abducted by armed members of theProvisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) near the border on 18 July and his body was found the following day in South Armagh.[2] He had been shot several times in the head.[2]
TheIRA, viaAn Phoblacht, claimed he had been passing information to theGarda Síochána.[2] They also claimed that Oliver had aided the IRA, providing sheds to store weapons and explosives, but that over a six-year period he had given information to the Gardaí, leading to several arrests.[1] His body showed clear evidence of massive pre-mortem trauma, indicating extensive torture.[1] A family member stated:
Whoever they were, they thumped him and thumped him to get him to say what they wanted him to say. After the post-mortem a priest said it looked liked they'd dropped concrete blocks on every bone in his body.
Thomas Oliver was survived by his wife, six daughters and a son. His mother, Annie, died in September 1991, reportedly from the shock and strain of her son's death. TheIrish Times of 24 November 1991, reported:[3]
The men who delivered him to his executioners are known in the locality. To a large extent they have been ostracised, told in some pubs that their custom is not wanted and that their company is not welcome. In some cases their own families have disowned them. Tom Oliver has become a symbol of every family on this island whose lives have been shattered by the men of violence.
In the wake of theStakeknife case, where a highly placed member of the IRA was revealed to be a British double agent, it began to be suspected thatFreddie Scappaticci – who ran the IRA'sInternal Security Unit, which was responsible for torturing and killing Thomas Oliver – killed Oliver to conceal his identity.[2][4]
It emerged that, in 1989, Oliver, in the course of drainage work on his farm, unwittingly uncovered a barrel. He reported the discovery to the Gardaí but was unaware of its contents.[2] The barrel contained IRA guns hidden on Oliver's land but without his knowledge. Two of those questioned about the arms in 1989 wereCounty Louth natives Michael Christopher McDonald and Declan John Rafferty. Both men were at the time members of the IRA and later went on to join theReal IRA.[5] In 2002, along with Fintan Paul O'Farrell, also a native ofCounty Louth, theSlovak Three were sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for arms smuggling.[citation needed]
An Phoblacht ("War News" section) on 25 July 1991 was headlinedIRA Executes Informer. The section justified Oliver's murder:
The IRA has a duty to protect its organisation, its volunteers and the back-up provided by its supporters. Tom Oliver's death was due to his willingness to act as an agent for the Dublin Government's Special Branch.
In 2002, Thomas Oliver's son Eugene (aged 13 at the time of his father's death) wrote a public letter to theDundalk newspaper,Argus, demanding answers to a series of questions directed at Sinn Féin's election candidate,Arthur Morgan regarding his father.Argus published the letter on its front page.Sinn Féin declined to comment; a spokesman said the party had no comment to make on the Real IRA trio, stating "They have nothing to do with us". Morgan was elected asTD for theLouth constituency, serving from 2002 to 2011; he was succeeded byGerry Adams.[6]
Investigators working inOperation Kenova announced that they had obtained new DNA evidence relating to the murder.[7][8]
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