Gardaí searching for the surviving member of a two-man assassin crew brought from Sweden to Ireland to carry out a contract killing have searched woodlands close to where his accomplice was killed on the N21 in Co Limerick.
The Irish Times has also established the man who died in the late-night car crash – Axel Erick Wolfgang Liebsch Morales (33) – had told people in Sweden he was going to Ireland to murder a man for payment.
When Swedish police began making inquiries with people who knew him, they were able to confirm very quickly from those witnesses that he was in Ireland and the reason for his visit.
Morales was known to the police in Sweden and was from a family of South American origin, believed to be Chilean. Just weeks before his death, he was advertising himself as a travelling barber in the Stockholm area.
When Morales was killed at 11pm last Monday week, his accomplice driving their Seat Leon fled on foot before gardaí arrived. The crash scene was at a T-junction between Abbeyfeale and Newcastle West, about 3km from Newcastle West.
Morales was found dead in the back of the car, wearing a balaclava and with a loaded pistol at his feet. He also had a spare magazine for the gun.
Gardaí believe Morales and his accomplice had been hired by criminals based in Limerick to carry out a murder in the Rathkeale area as part of a bitter feud that has been ongoing for years and has claimed at least one life to date.
Although the primary focus of the investigation to date has been finding the man who fled the crash scene, gardaí are also investigating the Irish criminals they believe hired the two-man assassin team from Sweden.
Now that Morales’s accomplice has evaded capture for almost two weeks, gardaí suspect he was aided after the fatal crash by the people who had hired the two men to come to Ireland and murder their rival.
They suspect he could still be in the Republic, being helped and shielded by the Limerick criminals. However, gardaí also cannot rule out the possibility he has been smuggled out of the country, perhaps via car ferry to Britain from Northern Ireland.
“He has to emerge somewhere,” said one source. “And when he does, we will catch up with him. He can’t go to ground forever.”
It was suspected that the man now on the run, also a Swedish citizen, had perhaps fled into the woods close to where he crashed his car, killing his associate Morales. Gardaí suspected the man may have sustained injuries himself and perhaps collapsed, unable to flee any further.
However, searches of the woodlands close to the crash scene failed to locate him. And now, almost two weeks later, gardaí are still looking for him, with the assistance of police in Sweden and Britain.
Gardaí believe Morales and his associate were on their way to carry out the murder when they crashed. They were following a satnav in their vehicle as they drove towards their target, but appeared to take a wrong turn.
They were turning in the road, to get back on to the right route, when they caused a three-vehicle collision. Three people, in their 60s and 70s, in the other two cars also sustained injuries, though they were not life-threatening.
Gardaí initially believed they were dealing with a fatal car crash. But they soon discovered the loaded pistol, with specialist officers experienced at investigating organised crime drafted in to aid the inquiry.
Gardaí quickly identified the dead man, Morales, as a Swedish citizen who had lived in Stockholm. Detectives also believe they know the identity of his accomplice. A mobile phone was also found in the Seat Leon, and gardaí suspect it was being used by the man who fled the scene.
Who is the Swedish hitman killed in a car crash in Limerick?
The mobile phone is being analysed in an attempt to determine who in Ireland it was used to contact. It was also being studied as part of efforts to trace the movements of Morales and his accomplice, including when and how they arrived in Ireland and where they went before their presence, and plans, were detected when they crashed.
The loaded pistol found in the crashed vehicle has also been sent for ballistics testing to determine its origins and also if it had been used in any other crimes, either in Ireland or abroad.
Garda Headquarters released mock-up images of the Seat Leon – registration KV12-KHP – the two men were in when it crashed and have urged anyone who saw the vehicle to come forward and help the investigation team at Newcastle West Garda station.
Detectives believe the car was in the Kerry, Limerick and north Cork areas between Sunday, June 7th, and Monday, June 8th, before it was crashed late on the Monday night.
“Gardaí are particularly interested in speaking with any business premises that may have provided accommodation to any occupants of this vehicle, as well as service stations where occupants of the vehicle may have obtained petrol,” gardaí said in a statement.
