A 26-year-old man - already serving a 12-year sentence for the attempted murder of his friend - has been convicted of his murder and sentenced to life in prison.
Jonathan Dunne from Windmill Park in Crumlin admitted he shot Ian Kenny in the head and shoulder at Lakelands Road in Stillorgan in July 2007.
Mr Kenny had been in a persistent vegetative state and died of bronchial pneumonia just over two years after Dunne shot him.
In the first case of its kind, Dunne was found guilty of his murder even though he was in prison when Kenny died.
Up until 1999 a death had to take place within a year and a day to sustain a charge of murder, however the law was changed.
Jonathan Dunne drove a Volkswagen Golf to the shops on Lakelands Road in Stillorgan at 3.40pm on 4 July 2007.
He then produced a sawn off shotgun which had been hidden in the grounds of a primary school in Drimnagh. He shot Ian Kenny - the front seat passenger - in the head and shoulder, and pushed him out of the car before driving off.
He set the car on fire in Knocklyon Wood, but was covered in blood. When gardaí stopped him, he admitted he had shot his friend.
He did so, he said, because he had lost a consignment of cannabis belonging to a drug dealer who made him do it to repay the debt.
This evening, Ian Kenny's family said they finally got justice for their brother and son.
The jury took under two hours to find Dunne guilty.
