BY FERMANAGH HERALD STAFF
Police are investigating the suspicious double deaths of men either side of the border.
Yesterday, a 31 year old man was shot dead in a house in Belturbet while a 41 year old Belfast man discovered suffering from head injuries in Castle Archdale Caravan Park on Sunday, died in the Erne Hospital, in Enniskillen.
The man, Darren McGrath, shot dead in Belturbet shared a house with his 18 year old partner, Nicole and their 14 month old baby, Lia.
The victim was asleep in an upstairs bedroom at around 5.00 am when a lone gunman entered the house, made his way upstairs and fired two shots at the man before making good his escape in a waiting car.
The shooting and the screeching of tyres awakened neighbours. Gardai immediately cordoned off the scene and an incident room was set up in Belturbet Garda Station.
The Castle Archdale victim was named by police as James Patrick McGauran, from Kestrel Grange in Dunmurry, Belfast. A post-mortem will be held to determine the cause of death.
A man in his 30s was arrested on Monday afternoon in connection with this incident and last night (Tuesday), he was still in custody helping police with their enquiries.
Police are said to be treating the death as suspicious.
The injured man was found by a passer-by lying in a sleeping bag close to one of the caravans at Castle Archdale Caravan Park shortly before 10 o'clock on Sunday evening
When the injured man was initially discovered, people in the area thought he was sleeping. Police believed the deceased had been staying at Castle Archdale Caravan Park.
A search of the area was carried out on Tuesday afternoon by police.
The Belturbet victim of the early morning shooting, Mr McGrath lived in Kilconny housing estate which is more familiarly known as Annagh Estate.
He is believed to have been a native of Cork, although he had maternal links with Cavan.
He was a well-known figure around Belturbet, usually out walking his Alsatian dog. It is believed he died at the scene of the shooting, access to which was barred to journalists who were kept about 100 yards away.
The incident room at Belturbet Garda Station can be contacted by anyone with any information about the shooting at - 049 9525580 or, callers can use the Confidential telephone number, 1800 666 111. Yesterday, local Gardai appealed to anyone who was in the area of Kilconny Estate in the early hours of yesterday (Tuesday) morning to contact either of the above two numbers, or any Garda station.
A local parish priest, Fr Sean Mawn, who visited the estate yesterday, spoke to Mr McGrath's partner and family members in a neighbour's house. He told the 'Herald' he knew the deceased through attending the christening of their baby girl last year in Belturbet Chapel.
"I don't know the background to all of this. It was very unfortunate. I talked to Nicole and her mother. They were very, very shocked as were their next-door neighbours".
He explained that Kilconny Estate had 40-plus houses.
