One of the leaders of one of Drogheda's two feuding criminal gangs has died in a hospital in Wales.
Cornelius Price was facing charges in the UK for his part in a kidnapping and blackmail plot but became ill and never stood trial.
Gardaí suspect the 41-year-old father-of-two, who was heavily involved in organised crime, was responsible for at least four murders including that of a young couple and their unborn child.
He also had close ties with a number of organised crime groups, including the McCarthy-Dundon gang in Limerick. He was filmed celebrating the death of rival gang leader Robbie Lawlor who was shot dead in Belfast in April 2020. The footage was subsequently circulated on social media.
Cornelius Price operated from a fortified compound in Gormanstown in Co Meath. It was where 34-year-old Willie Maughan and 21-year-old Ana Varslavane were last seen alive before they went missing on 14 April 2015.
The couple had been living in the area but had planned to move to Tallaght where the Maughan family lived. They were on their way to meet Willie's mother when they disappeared.
The garda investigation into their disappearance remains open. Detectives are hopeful that the death of the violent gang leader may enable people with information about the murders and who up to now may have been afraid of Cornelius Price to come forward in confidence.
The couple's remains have never been found.
Gardaí believe Cornelius Price ordered their murders because he feared Willie Maughan may have known something about his involvement in the drug related murder of Benny Whitehouse the previous year.
Price and Whitehouse were involved in a violent feud over the supply of drugs in Louth and North County Dublin. Whitehouse and another man attacked Price with a bat on Chapel Street in Balbriggan in November 2013.
The following September, Whitehouse was shot dead by a lone gunman. His partner was also shot in the leg. The couple had just dropped their children off at school that morning.
Price's drug dealing gang then became involved in another murderous feud with a gang led by the notorious criminal Robbie Lawlor and others, which became known as the Drogheda feud.
Over 200 people were involved in the feud which led to assaults, kidnappings, petrol bombings, homes being burned out and four murders including that of 17-year-old Keane Mulready-Woods.
Gardaí set up Operation Stratus to target the gangs and over 150 suspects were pursued. A large number of dangerous criminals have since been imprisoned, including Paul Crosby.
He was jailed for 10 years at the Special Criminal Court earlier this month, for bringing Keane Mulready-Woods to the house in Drogheda where he was murdered and his remains dismembered.
Cornelius Price was suspected of being involved in another feud murder, that of Robbie Lawlor’s associate Keith Brannigan. The 29-year-old was shot dead at the Ashling Holiday Park in Clogherhead on 27 August 2019.
Price had only been released from prison a few months earlier in May 2019 after serving a three years sentence for reckless endangerment.
He drove a van at high speed at Garda Gary Dillane at Balbriggan Garda Station forcing the garda to jump out of the way to avoid serious injury.
Price subsequently took a case against the State claiming he had been kept in Wheatfield prison 24 hours longer than he should have been. The Court of Appeal dismissed it. The court found his "alternative" attempt to re-calibrate his entitlement to remission was "contrary to logic".
As the Drogheda feud became increasing violent and dangerous for those involved, Price decided to move to the UK. He was also under severe pressure by the gardaí. His compound had been raided several times and he was a target not just of Operation Stratus, but also of the Garda's National Units and the Criminal Assets Bureau.
His associates and relatives were also being convicted and jailed.
Stephen Gibbons, who had been married to Price’s aunt and lived on his compound, was jailed for seven years after he was caught with a 9mm submachine gun. He also failed in his appeal against the sentence.
While in exile, Price continued his involvement in organised crime in the UK. He took part in a blackmail plot where two brothers were kidnapped and told they would be shot in the head if a £300,000 ransom was not paid.
The brothers were tied up, blindfolded, fed sleeping tablets, made to wash with Dettol spray and forced to call their relatives for money before armed police rescued them. One of the victims was found lying on a mattress in the back of a van driven by another Irishman Darren McClean. The 37-year-old was convicted last month and is awaiting sentence.
Cornelius Price was also charged in connection with the kidnapping but never stood trial. He suffered a brain injury and was hospitalised.
His condition deteriorated over the last two years. He remained in intensive care and died yesterday in hospital in Wales.
