Liverpool-born David Hunter, who wore a Freddy Krueger mask to assassinate a pub manager in Dublin under orders from the Kinahan Cartel, failed this week in his attempt to overturn his conviction. Hunter murdered Michael Barr, 35, at the Sunset House pub in April 2016, shooting him seven times, including five times in the head. The attack occurred during a fundraiser for the wives of IRA prisoners, and Barr was a known dissident republican.
Eyewitnesses Mistook Gunmen for Pranksters
Eyewitnesses inside the pub initially believed the masked men were part of a joke. A former soldier testified he thought a man holding a 9mm handgun was a "prankster," while a woman said she thought the men were part of a "kissogram" joke. She later told criminal proceedings that the mirror behind the bar was shot by a stray bullet, and people realized the shooting was real. After the shooting, she crawled over to Barr, placed a cloth over his face, and gave her phone to a bar staff member to call the police.
Bungled Escape and DNA Evidence
After the shooting, Hunter and accomplice Eamon Cumberton, a convicted cage fighter, fled in a vehicle that was dumped and torched. However, emergency services reached the burning car before the flames fully took hold, recovering four guns, ski masks, rubber masks, a mobile phone, and boiler suits. Hunter's DNA was found on two masks. Hunter claimed his DNA was on one ski mask because he had dropped it during a car theft months earlier, but he could not explain his DNA on the rubber mask.
Alibi and Appeal Dismissed
Hunter told police he had been in Ireland to watch a UB40 gig, but his story did not match the concert date. At trial, the Special Criminal Court described his alibi as "unbelievable and untrue." He was jailed for life in 2020. In his 2025 appeal, Hunter argued that the trial court wrongly rejected eyewitness evidence about height differences between the two gunmen. However, Judge John Edwards dismissed the appeal on June 21, 2026, stating that the assessment of eyewitness evidence was "cogent and rigorous."
Background of the Feud
The murder was linked to the feud between the Kinahan Cartel and the Hutch gang, which began in 2015 and claimed at least 18 lives. Hunter, described as a "two bit car thief" by his own lawyers, was vulnerable, drug-addicted, and easy to manipulate, according to Irish media. He was drawn into the plot just days after the Regency boxing shooting, where David Byrne was murdered by men disguised as police officers.
