A 34-year-old Dublin man has been convicted of being the murderer in drag who shot a man with a sub-machine gun in a busy car park.
Christopher McDonald, from the East Wall area of Dublin, was found guilty of murder by unanimous jury verdict following a little over two hours of deliberation at the Central Criminal Court.
He had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Keith Walker, 36, at Blanchardstown Pigeon Racing Club car park on Shelerin Road, Clonsilla, Dublin on 12 June 2015.
The verdict was met with shouts and a number of people burst into tears.
Before Justice Patrick McCarthy sentenced McDonald to life imprisonment, the deceased's wife Lorraine Walker and sister Michelle Walker told the court of the devastating impact the murder had on them and their family.
Lorraine Walker described her husband as her soulmate and best friend.
They had been childhood sweethearts, together for 17 years. Her family, she said, was normal and happy until the day she received a phone call to say that her husband and the father of her two boys had been "brutally murdered".
She said one of the hardest things she has ever done was telling her children that their father was gone and would not be coming back. "The look on their faces will never leave me," she said.
Michelle Walker said her brother was the eldest of three siblings and his strength and love had helped the family cope with the loss of their mother in 2014.
She described him as a man of simplicity and humour, who could convert a room of strangers into a room of friends.
He was a proud father and loving son who would not get to see his sons grow up.
Following those statements Justice McCarthy asked the convicted man to stand and told him: "I now sentence you to be imprisoned for life, as is required by law."
Justice McCarthy also thanked the jury for their service and exempted them from further service for ten years.
