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Keane Mulready-Woods, 17, was lured to a house in Drogheda, Ireland, where he was tortured and beheaded in a brutal gangland killing linked to a drug feud before his dismembered remains were found across two locations
Keane Mulready-Woods was just 17 when he was killed (Image: undefined)
A 17-year-old who was abducted and dismembered left a haunting final message for his mother before his death in a brutal gangland killing.
The savage murder of Keane Mulready-Woods in 2020 sent shockwaves across Ireland.
The teenager, embroiled in a drugs feud in the town of Drogheda, was enticed to a property on January 12 where he was tortured and decapitated.
His limbs were thrown from a car in a sports bag onto a pavement in the town of Moatview. His head, hands and feet were subsequently discovered in a burnt out car in Dublin.
Keane's killing triggered a wave of retaliatory attacks - culminating in the murder of prime suspect Robbie Lawlor, who was shot dead whilst collecting a drugs debt.
Keane Mulready-Woods was then dismembered (Image: PA)
Before his disappearance, Keane rang his mother, informing her he'd be home late and requesting she leave money out for a taxi.
Keane, who had been recruited as a drugs courier for a local gang, was subject to a curfew requiring him home before dark and had been complying with the conditions, according to the Irish Independent.
At the time of his death, he was on licence following conviction for intimidating a local mother over drugs debts to the gang accumulated by her child.
Lawlor allegedly killed Keane as he believed the teenager was implicated in the killing of his brother-in-law Richie Carberry at his residence in November 2019.
Gardaí suspect Lawlor escalated to torturing the teenager, having initially claimed he would merely administer a "punishment beating" over a minor drugs debt.
Keane Mulready-Woods was tortured before his death (Image: undefined)
An insider revealed to the Irish Sun: "Lawlor was obsessed with Mulready-Woods and was determined to take his life because he was convinced he played a major role in Carberry's death.
"He took his propensity for violence to another level when he dismembered the teenager's remains and then taunted his enemies about it."
The 36-year-old had links to several murders and hundreds of criminal convictions before he was gunned down. In December, he was acquitted of attempted murder charges involving the mother of his ex-girlfriend's new partner and walked free from court.
Just weeks after his acquittal and release, he was assaulted outside a gym by an individual linked to one of his alleged murder victims. Lawlor's gym bag was stolen, and his rivals posted photos of themselves donning his flip-flops.
It is widely speculated that Keane was present during the assault - and a furious Lawlor reportedly sought vengeance.
One of the images shared following Keane's death bore the chilling caption: "Won't be robbing a man's flip-flops again."
In February 2023, local criminal Paul Crosby received a 10-year prison sentence for his involvement in facilitating Keane's murder, whilst his co-defendant Gerard "Rocky" Cruise was given a seven-year term.
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A third person, Gerard 'Ged' McKenna, confessed to cleaning up and disposing of evidence from the scene.
In a devastating victim impact statement delivered on behalf of Keane's bereaved mother Elizabeth, she said: "No one could imagine the darkness and sadistic evil in our country I can hear him calling 'Mam, Mam' - and the haunting nightmares live forever with us. To lose my child, my son, my baby in a most inhumane, barbaric death is shocking," she stated, noting that a part of her died as well. "I couldn't protect him."
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