The family of murdered Kinahan cartel gangster David Byrne spent several thousand on facial reconstruction so they could have an open casket at the wake ahead of his bling funeral, we can reveal.
Byrne, 33, was shot six times in the head, face, chest, stomach, hand and legs in the attack during a boxing weigh-in at the Regency Hotel, North Dublin, on February 5, 2016.
Gerry “The Monk” Hutch is before the Special Criminal Court charged with Byrne’s murder and his trial heard last week that Byrne was left “unrecognisable” from the injuries he sustained.
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The Irish Mirror can reveal that in a bid to have an open casket, Byrne’s family paid “several thousand” for mortuary specialists to reconstruct his face. The process saw the Byrne family giving pictures to the experts who were tasked with the job.
The body was brought to a location outside of Dublin for the work to be done and sources said a security operation had to be put in place as all out war raged following the murder.
A source said: “Byrne was unrecognisable. His family decided to take this path and it involves giving these specialists a picture for them to recreate what he did look like.
“And it cost several thousand euro, but you saw it with the rest of his funeral that no expense was spared.
“Gardai also had to be aware at the time as tensions were so high. An operation was put in place as the body was transported to and from this location.”
Another source added: “People use this service a lot when victims die of traumatic incidents and it helps families cope or gives them a bit more closure in such situations.”
Byrne’s funeral took place in St Nicholas of Myra Church on Francis Street in Dublin’s south inner city 10 days after his murder.
He was laid to rest in a metallic coffin worth between €15,000 and €20,000. Boss Daniel Kinahan, his brother Christopher, now caged murderer “Fat” Freddie Thompson and Sean McGovern all attended and comforted David’s gangster brother Liam Byrne who cried carrying out the casket.
A surveillance operation by gardai at the funeral helped identify other senior members of the mob who had gone under the radar but who have subsequently been jailed for their roles in the gang, including Declan “Mr Nobody” Brady and Thomas “Bomber” Kavanagh.
Last week the trial in which Hutch is accused of Byrne’s murder heard from barrister and well-known boxing figure Mel Christle. The witness gave evidence of walking by Byrne’s shot-up corpse in the hotel on February 5, 2016. Mr Christle said he knew the man was dead and added: “The body on the ground was a corpse and his face had been blown off.”
Byrne’s mum Sadie has attended the trial every day, while dad James “Jaws” Byrne went one day last week.
Hutch, 59, denies the murder charge.
Jason Bonney, 50, of Drumnigh Wood, Portmarnock, and Paul Murphy, 59, of Cherry Avenue, Swords, both North Dublin, are charged with participating in or contributing to the facilitation of the killing by providing motor vehicles for a criminal gang on February 5, 2016. They also deny the charges.
The trial continues today.
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