Fourteen years ago, Irish crime reporter聽, whose investigations into Dublin鈥檚 seedy underbelly had won awards for her and the best-selling Sunday Independent, was gunned down by an unknown killer while she waited in traffic. Last week, an Irish fugitive wanted in connection with her murder was arrested in Amsterdam in a cooperative effort between Dutch police and the UK鈥檚 Serious Organized Crime Agency, news reports say.
UK authorities have been looking for John Traynor since 1992, when he failed to return from a short prison leave. He was serving a seven year term for possession of stolen bonds, reports say. Traynor was operating with a well-known criminal gang in Ireland until 1996, when he fled to Europe following Veronica Guerin鈥檚 assassination.
It is believed that Traynor was responsible for ordering a gunman to shoot Guerin in the leg in 1995. Guerin was murdered a year later, on 26 June 2006. It is belived that Traynor, who was one of Guerin鈥檚 criminal contacts, shared information about her movements with the killers, reports say.
Guerin鈥檚 murder prompted a crackdown on organized crime in Ireland. Three criminals have already been convicted of murder for their various roles in the journalist鈥檚 death.
Guerin was named an聽IPI World Press Freedom Hero聽in 2000 for her courageous efforts to report the truth about organized criminals, which she undertook knowing that she could well lose her life in the process.
鈥淲e are glad to hear that one more of the criminals responsible for Guerin鈥檚 murder will be brought to justice,鈥� said IPI Interim Director Alison Bethel McKenzie. 鈥淰eronica Guerin鈥檚 death was a tragedy for her family and her newspaper, and for the pursuit of truth in Ireland. In fact, it was a tragedy for us all. Hopefully this arrest will shed more light on this case, until every person involved in her killing is behind bars.鈥�