Aaron Brady has been found guilty of the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe.
On Monday, the 29-year-old, from Crossmaglen, Co. Armagh, was convicted of taking part in an armed robbery that led to Detective Donohoe being shot dead in 2013.
It has been seven years since Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe was shot dead in the line of duty during an armed robbery outside Lordship Credit Union in Co. Louth.
WE WILL NEVER FORGET: Aaron Brady has been found guilty of the capital murder of our colleague and friend, D/Garda Adrian Donohoe. Adrian will always and forever be in our hearts. #RIPAdrian pic.twitter.com/TSBKlrwFMo
— Garda Review (@GardaReview) August 12, 2020
On a cold and wet Friday night in January 2013, he was assigned to escort a cash convoy to Dundalk for safe deposit.
At 9.29pm, Aaron Brady and three other masked men jumped a wall at the back of the credit union and ran towards the convoy.
Detective Donohoe stepped out of his unmarked Garda car to see what was going on, and without hesitation, Brady shot him in the face from close range.
The local detective didn't even have time to draw his weapon. He died instantly.
Brady lied about his whereabouts when he was stopped the following day. He later claimed he was engaged in illegal diesel laundering at the time of the shooting.
But the jurors didn't believe him. On Monday, they convicted him of robbery, and today he was found guilty of the capital murder of Detective Donohoe after 20 hours of jury deliberations.
The Garda Represent Association says they hope today's verdict means the process of bringing healing and closure to Adrian's wife and two children can now begin.
They say no verdict and no sentence can ever replace the life taken from his wife and family.
"Aaron Brady was not alone in Lordship" Adrian Donohue's brother Garda Colm Donohue says quest for justice continues pic.twitter.com/PURt6urJK3
— neilleslie2 (@NeilLeslie2) August 12, 2020
The GRA described him as a Detective from a family steeped in Garda tradition and say their thoughts are with them and with Adrian's Garda colleagues who lost a great workmate and a great friend seven-and-half years ago.
The Association also says they are conscious of other suspects being sought in connection with the incident in which Adrian was murdered and fervently hope they too will be brought to justice.
Homeland Security in the United States worked closely with the gardaí in securing Aaron Brady's arrest and extradition from New York.
Retired Detective with the New York Police Department Intelligence Bureau, James Walsh, was present at the time the 29-year-old from Crossmaglen was taken into custody.
He says Brady was very 'security conscious' before he was arrested:
