Several hours later at 9:30 a.m., the mutilated bodies of Robb and McIlwaine were discovered lying in pools of blood on the roadside 100 metres apart from one another by a woman taking her children to dancing lessons. Because of the devastating stab wounds inflicted upon the teenagers, the
RUC had assumed that McIlwaine had received a shotgun blast to his face. Both of their throats were slashed so deeply that the teenagers were nearly decapitated. The RUC immediately set up an inquiry into the killings. Post mortems revealed that Robb had sustained a severe cut throat injury to the neck and a penetrating wound to the abdomen with three penetrating wounds. There were no defence injuries. McIlwaine received a severe cut throat injury, seven penetrating wounds to the chest and penetrating wounds to the face and to the left eye. Both teenagers were intoxicated at the time of their deaths. The killings deeply shocked the community and were strongly condemned by local politicians. "The Spot"'s then manager, Willie Frazer also condemned the killings. After the attacks Adair branded the UVF "Protestant killers" and even produced a news-sheet in which he listed McIlwaine and Robb as Protestant victims of the UVF along with the likes of the murdered
Frankie Curry and regular targets
Jackie Mahood,
Kenny McClinton and
Clifford Peeples. The UVF Brigade Staff in Belfast had not sanctioned the killings of Robb and McIlwaine. The LVF leadership, however maintained that the blame for the killings "lies at the door of the Eagle"; a reference to the Brigade Staff headquarters on the Shankill Road. It then threatened to strike back against carefully selected targets in the Belfast UVF. A year after the killings, Robb's 16-year-old sister Jenna was beaten up by a group of boys belonging to the
Young Citizens Volunteers (YCV), the UVF's youth wing, who had followed her as she walked along a Portadown street. As they beat her with hockey sticks, they repeatedly called her an "LVF bastard". She was left with bruises to her head, arms, and back. She was so traumatised by the attack that she was afraid to return to school.
Arrests and allegations The day after the homicides, a number of people were arrested in connection to the crime, including Noel Dillon. The arrests were not made under anti-terrorist legislation and the suspects were all released unconditionally the same evening. On 6 February 2001, the charges against Brown were unexpectedly dropped by the
Director of Public Prosecutions. In April 2001, Mark Burcombe was arrested under the
Prevention of Terrorism Acts in relation to his UVF activities, but was released without charge. On 2 November 2005, the Tandragee double killing was reconstructed and featured on the
BBC One programme
Crimewatch in which a £10,000 award was offered. After viewing the programme, Mark Burcombe consulted a clergyman and solicitor, and subsequently presented himself to police outside
Hillsborough Castle to give them information regarding the events which took place on 19 February 2000. He was interviewed about the killings over a period of four days and admitted to having known both Robb and McIlwaine. He was arrested and charged with the murders along with Stephen Brown, who had also been arrested on 7 November 2005 in connection with the double killing. to receive a reduced sentence in return for giving evidence against his co-defendant. Specially trained Detectives from the PSNI Crime Operations Department conducted a full Debrief of Burcombe concerning his own criminality and the criminality of others involved.
Convictions , in a letter to the Attorney General for Northern Ireland, described the Tandragee killings as "a barbaric act" Burcombe pleaded guilty to the offence of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm to Andrew Robb and was sentenced to 28 months' imprisonment with two months consecutive for an unrelated suspended sentence. writing that "all records before the courts on this crime verify it was a barbaric act". Adams also went on to affirm that he shared the McIlwaine family's belief that a state agent was involved in the homicides and was being protected. Lady Scotland, however, backed the plea bargain deal. Stephen Brown was found guilty of the murders on 3 March 2009. The trial, which had commenced on 25 November 2008, was held at the Belfast Crown Court
without a jury. The prosecution had relied upon three pieces of evidence to prove Brown's culpability. These were the testimony of Mark Burcombe, who had witnessed McIlwaine's killing and had been present at Robb's killing; the forensic material found by the RUC at the crime scene (including DNA samples found on McIlwaine's jacket which matched Brown's); the hearsay evidence of Brown's former girlfriend who claimed he had admitted to her that he had killed McIlwaine. One month later, 3 April, Brown was sentenced to 35 years' imprisonment for each count of murder. ==References==