Keane Mulready-Woods was just 17 when he was killed (Image: undefined)
A 17-year-old who was abducted and subjected to a horrifying ordeal sent a haunting final text message to his mother before his brutal gangland murder.
The devastating killing of Keane Mulready-Woods in 2020 sent shockwaves throughout Ireland, leaving the nation utterly reeling.
The teenager, who had become entangled in a violent drugs turf war in Drogheda, was lured to a property on January 12 where he suffered a terrifying ordeal before being decapitated.
His severed limbs were hurled from a moving vehicle in a sports bag onto a pavement in Moatview. Several days later, his head, hands and feet were found in a burnt-out car in Dublin.
Keane’s murder sparked a wave of retaliatory violence, which ultimately culminated in the death of prime suspect Robbie Lawlor, who was shot dead while pursuing a drugs debt.
Robbie Lawlor (Image: Handout)
Shortly before his disappearance, Keane had been in touch with his mother, letting her know he would be home late and asking her to leave taxi fare out for him, reports the Irish Mirror.
Keane, who had become involved in ferrying drugs for a local criminal gang, was under strict instructions to return before dark and had reportedly been abiding by these rules, according to the Irish Independent.
At the time of his death, he was out on licence following a conviction for intimidating a local mother over her child’s drugs debts owed to the gang.
It is believed that Lawlor killed Keane due to suspicions that the teenager had played a part in the fatal shooting of his brother-in-law Richie Carberry at his home in November 2019.
Keane sent one last message to his mum (Image: PA)
Gardaí believe Lawlor escalated to torturing the teenager, despite initially claiming he would simply carry out a “punishment beating” over a minor drugs debt.
A source said: “Lawlor was obsessed with Mulready-Woods and was determined to take his life because he was convinced he played a major role in Carberry’s death.
“He took his propensity for violence to another level when he dismembered the teenager’s remains and then taunted his enemies about it.”
The merciless 36-year-old had been linked to many killings and amassed hundreds of criminal convictions before his fatal shooting.
Last December, he walked free from court after being cleared of attempting to murder the mother of his former partner’s new boyfriend.
Just weeks after his acquittal on the attempted murder charge, he was set upon outside a gym by an associate of one of his alleged murder victims.
Lawlor’s gym belongings were confiscated and his rivals posted photographs of themselves wearing his flip-flops.
It is widely believed that Keane was present during the attack – and a furious Lawlor allegedly vowed revenge.
Keane Mulready-Woods was killed and then dismembered (Image: undefined)
Among the images circulated following Keane’s murder was one bearing the chilling caption: “Won’t be robbing a man’s flip-flops again.”
In February 2023, local criminal Paul Crosby was handed a 10-year prison sentence for his role in Keane’s murder, while his associate Gerard “Rocky” Cruise received seven years behind bars. A third man, Gerard ‘Ged’ McKenna, pleaded guilty to clearing up and disposing of evidence at the scene.
In a deeply distressing victim impact statement read on behalf of Keane’s heartbroken mother Elizabeth, she said: “No one could imagine the darkness and sadistic evil in our country I can hear him calling ‘Mam, Mam’ – and the haunting nightmares live forever with us. To lose my child, my son, my baby in a most inhumane, barbaric death is shocking,” adding that a part of her had perished alongside him. “I couldn’t protect him.”
