KILLER DEAD

IRA thug Pearse McAuley who brutally killed Detective Garda Jerry McCabe & viciously stabbed wife 13 times found dead

The IRA thug is believed to have had a heart attack.

• , Crime Editor

• Dublin
• Published: 22:41, 18 Mar 2024
• Updated: 22:42, 18 Mar 2024

GARDA killer Pearse McAuley has been found dead in Strabane, Co Tyrone, aged 59.

It’s believed that the former IRA lad, who brutally killed Detective Garda Jerry McCabe in 1996, died of a suspected heart attack.

McAuley had returned to his native Strabane after being released from prison in 2022 after serving just seven years for stabbing wife 13 times.

He also served time for callous killing of Det Gar McCabe in 1996 when he and others tried to carry out an armed raid on a Limerick post office, claiming the life of the hero garda.

On Christmas Eve 2014, Pauline Tully, now a Sinn Fein TD, was lucky to escape alive after the violent thug stabbed her 13 times.

Their two children were in the Cavan house at the time, and she told a court that one of them had seen their father stab her through a glass panel in the door.

In 2015, he pleaded guilty to seriously assaulting Pauline and falsely imprisoning her.

He was sentenced to 12 years behind bars for the vicious assault, with four years suspended.

And he also broke out from Brixton Prison in 1991 while still a member of the IRA after being held on charges of conspiring to cause explosions and in connection with a plan to murder a British brewery company chairman.

Local councillor Raymond Barr paid tribute following the death of his “good friend”.

Posting on social media he said: “Saddened to hear of the passing of a good friend today.

“Rest in peace Pearse.”

Garda killer

Hero detective Jerry McCabe was killed on June 7, 1996.

The Special Branch officer and Det Gda Ben O’Sullivan were proving an early morning armed escort for a mail delivery van in Adare.

Det McCabe died instantly when a bullet from an AK47 machine gun severed his spine as he sat in the Garda car.

O’Sullivan was shot 11 times, but miraculously survived.

Jerry’s devastated widow Ann McCabe said her life had “changed in every way” after he was killed, leaving behind five children.

Pain continues

Asked last year whether she still thinks daily about the day her husband died, Mrs McCabe said she did.

She added: “I do. Jerry’s partner Ben O’Sullivan has passed away since, it was a miracle that he survived because they hit him with 11 bullets.

“Life goes on. I’ve wonderful family and friends. We have an organisation called The Garda Survivors, which I’m a member of, and we discuss problems when we meet up once a month… And we can express all our feelings.”

Five jailed

McAuley was one of five men jailed for the horrific killing of Det Gda McCabe.

Kevin Walsh, Jeremiah Sheehy and Michael O’Neill all served prison sentences after pleading guilty to Det Gda McCabe’s manslaughter while on trial for his murder in 1999.

A fifth man, John Quinn, of Faha, Patrickswell, was locked up for conspiracy to commit robbery of the post office van on the day.