GARDAÍ INVESTIGATING the murder of 20-year-old Tommy Joyce believe he may have been killed because a machine pistol he was rumoured to own was the same model of weapon used to kill drug dealer BJ Clarke (21) in north Dublin in April.
Joyce was shot five times in an attack outside his home on the Grove Lane halting site at Malahide Rd, Darndale, north Dublin, on Wednesday evening.
Garda sources said the dead man was an "extremely volatile" criminal who had many enemies. They are still trying to determine the motive for his murder, but say his assumed links to the BJ Clarke killing is the most likely motive.
Clarke and two friends were in the car park of the Brookwood Abbey apartment block in Artane, Dublin 5, in the early hours of May 7th, when they were ambushed.
Clarke, a well-known drug dealer from Darndale, died from his wounds. His two friends were wounded but survived.
Ballistics testing concluded the weapon used in that attack was a Czech-made Skorpion machine pistol. Garda sources said many in the criminal fraternity believed Joyce owned such a weapon. It was widely rumoured in criminal circles in recent months that Joyce was offering €40,000 and the gun to anybody who would kill BJ Clarke. Joyce and Clarke had worked with each other on drug deals in the past, but had fallen out in recent months.
Said one Garda source: "The rumour went around that Tommy [ Joyce] wanted BJ Clarke dead. It then came out that the gun used to kill Clarke was a Skorpion. Everyone believed Tommy Joyce owned a Skorpion and people started putting two and two together."
However, gardaí have not ruled out the possibility Joyce was murdered by members of a gang involved in a feud in Sheriff Street, in Dublin's north inner city, with whom he had also clashed.
Joyce was a leading member of a major crime gang from which several million euro worth of cocaine was seized along with guns and smaller quantities of heroin and cannabis.
Gardaí who have been investigating Tommy Joyce say his actions had become increasingly unpredictable since the jailing of two of his brothers last October.
John Paul Joyce (29) of Grove Lane, Coolock, and James Joyce (26) of Dalton Park, Mullingar, Co Westmeath, were jailed for two years and 18 months respectively for their role in beating a man.
