Cappagh killings

On Sunday 3 March 1991, a team from the Mid-Ulster Brigade of the Ulster Volunteer Force drove into Cappagh, County Tyrone intent on killing a local republican who was a regular customer at Boyle's Bar. Their target was reportedly Brian Arthurs, believed to be a leading member of the Provisional IRA East Tyrone Brigade. They parked up on the outskirts of the village while the first vehicle 'silently glided' up the hill towards Cappagh. Around 10:30pm a blue Peugeot 305 pulled up outside the bar. Two men in balaclavas, one of whom was Mark Fulton, opened fire with vz. 58 assault rifles before Quinn had even turned the engine off. ==Allegations==

A journalist from the Philadelphia Inquirer interviewed Cappagh locals at the joint funeral of the four victims, reporting a belief among many that the killings could only have been carried out with the cooperation of the security forces. Claims of this nature were notably popularised by an October 1991 episode of the Channel 4 programme Dispatches that drew on the evidence of Jim Sands, a former Portadown resident. Nevertheless, he boasted to an interviewer from The Guardian years later that members of the security forces had suggested they were pleased with the deaths: I genuinely believe that we were very successful, and that may sound morbid but they know that we hammered them into the ground and we didn't lose one volunteer. Indeed, members of the security forces had said that we done what they couldn't do, we put the East Tyrone brigade of the IRA on the run. This gave 'additional oxygen to the oft-repeated charges of collusion' between security forces and militant loyalists. As a result, the competing theory that the deaths of Quinn, Nugent and O'Donnell were not pre-planned but an opportunistic 'bonus' became increasingly common. At the time, police refused to confirm whether individuals questioned in the aftermath included members of the security forces. A 2020 report by the Historical Enquiries Team revealed that three serving UDR soldiers had been arrested in December 1991 and questioned for several days, but eventually released without charge.{{cite news|title=Report reveals three UDR soldiers were questioned over Cappagh killings ==Later events==

Under pressure to avenge the Cappagh killings, the local IRA searched for a target. On the evening of the 9 April, builder Derek Ferguson (31) was shot dead at his temporary mobile home at Aughaveagh Road, Coagh. Accused by the IRA of being a UVF member, both his family and the RUC denied this, with the UVF even issuing a statement to reject the claim. It is more likely his status as an employee of Henry Brothers construction, the 'sworn enemy' of the East Tyrone Brigade for their work with the security forces, was the sole motivation behind his murder. Brian Arthurs was arrested for possessing explosives in 1995. Sentenced to 25 years in prison, he was released in 2000 under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. In January 2013 he pled guilty after being charged with a £250,000 mortgage fraud. The IRA made at least five botched assassination attempts against Billy Wright. On 27 December 1997, INLA prisoner Christopher 'Crip' McWilliams succeeded in killing him using a smuggled gun inside Maze Prison. ==See also==