Chilling last message from boy, 17, tortured and hacked to death in gang killing

The savage murder of Keane Mulready-Woods in 2020 shocked Ireland and was the culmination of a brutal feud between two drug gangs who plumbed new depths of depravity

A 17-year-old boy who was abducted and dismembered left a chilling final message for his mum before his death in a brutal gangland killing.

The savage murder of Keane Mulready-Woods in 2020 shocked Ireland and shook the nation to its core. The teen, caught up in a drug feud in the town of Drogheda, was lured to a house on January 12 where he was tortured and beheaded. His limbs were thrown from a car in a sports bag onto a footpath in the town of Moatview. His head, hands and feet were then found in a burnt out car in Dublin days later. Keane’s killing sparked a series of revenge attacks – culminating in the murder of prime suspect Robbie Lawlor, who was gunned down as he collected a drug debt.

Before he went missing, Keane called his mum, telling her he’d be home late and asking her to leave money out for a taxi. Keane, who was recruited as a drugs runner for a local gang, was under a curfew to be home before dark and had been obeying the rules, the Irish Independent reported.

At the time of his death, he was on licence after being convicted of intimidating a local mum over the drug debts to the gang racked up by her child. Lawlor reportedly murdered Keane as he believed the teen was involved in the murder of his brother-in-law Richie Carberry at his house in November 2019.

Garda suspect Lawlor went on to torture the teen having previously said he would just give him a “punishment beating” over a small drug debt. A source told 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 sadistic 36-year-old was tied to several murders and had hundreds of criminal convictions before he was gunned down. In December, he walked free from court after being cleared of attempting to murder the mum of his ex-girlfriend’s new partner.

Weeks after walking free from court having been cleared of attempted murder, he was assaulted outside a gym by a man connected to one of his alleged murder victims. Lawlor’s gym bag was stolen and his enemies posted photos of themselves wearing his flip flops. It is widely believed that Keane was there on the day of the attack – and a furious Lawlor reportedly sought revenge. One of the pictures shared after Keane’s death included the chilling caption: “Won’t be robbing a man’s flip-flops again.”

In February 2023, local criminal Paul Crosby was jailed for 10 years for facilitating the murder of Keane, and his co-accused Gerard “Rocky” Cruise was jailed for seven years. A third man, Gerard ‘Ged’ McKenna, pleaded guilty to cleaning up and removing evidence from the scene.

In a victim impact statement read out on behalf of Keane’s heartbroken mum 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 said, adding that part of her died too. “I couldn’t protect him.”