The daughter of notorious gangland leader Cornelius Price has claimed her dad “had nothing to do with” the brutal murders of Willie Maughan and his pregnant partner Ana Varslavane.
Drogheda gang boss Price - who was heavily involved in organised crime and suspected of being responsible for at least six murders including that of tragic Willie Maughan and Ana Varslavane - died from a brain disease in a Welsh hospital on Sunday
The gang boss - who was behind much of the chaos in the lethal Drogheda feud that claimed four lives - fled to the UK in 2020 from his “enclave for criminality” fortified compound in Gormanston, Co Meath shortly after the gruesome murder and dismemberment of Drogheda teen Keane Mulready-Woods.
READ MORE: Exclusive video goes behind the walls of mobster Cornelius Price's ransacked fortified compound
Price’s arch enemy slain serial killer Robbie Lawlor murdered and dismembered the teen in January 2020 and Price fled as there were threats on his own life.
While in the UK Price, who was named in the High Court as a leading member of the Price-Maguire gang involved in the lethal Drogheda feud and a major drug dealer supply the north-east region of the country, was facing a trial in the UK for his alleged part in a kidnap and blackmail plot.
However, in October 2021 he was struck down after suffering the brain disease limbic encephalitis and never stood trial.
Now, Price’s daughter Alisha has sensationally claimed that her 41-year-old dad and his associates had “nothing to do with” the murders of Willie, 34, and Ana, 21, in 2015.
Alisha, who contacted this reporter on Thursday, also claimed that the person responsible for killing the couple is “a major Dublin drug dealer” who is still out there.
“My father and his associates had nothing to do with it [the murders of Willie and Ana],” she said, claiming a major Dublin drug dealer was responsible instead.
Alisha has also revealed to us that despite funeral plans being underway to bury her dad - the family is still unsure whether his remains will be brought back to Ireland to be buried or if he will be buried in the UK.
However, she said “We’re 99% sure it’s Balbriggan” where his funeral will take place in the coming weeks.
Gardai believe the couple were murdered by Price and his associates because Price’s gang feared Willie may have had information about the murder of Benny Whitehouse in 2013. The couple were last seen alive on April 14, 2015 at Price’s compound.
Price is suspected of murdering Benny in November 2014 in a dispute over the drugs trade in the north-east of the country.
Moments before their suspected murders, Ana rang Willie’s mother Nell’s phone crying for help, according to interviews given by Willie’s parents.
Despite numerous searches over the years, tragic Willie and Ana’s bodies have never been recovered.
Now that feared gang boss Price is dead, the Maughan family and gardai are hoping those involved will come forward with information on the couple’s murder and where their bodies are buried.
A high security policing plan is expected to be put in place by gardai for the gang boss’s funeral - if it does take place in Ireland within the coming weeks.
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