The brutal gangland murder of 17-year-old Keane Mulready-Woods in January 2020 represents one of the most shocking crimes in recent Irish history, revealing the terrifying depths of depravity within feuding drug gangs.
A Chilling Final Conversation
Before he disappeared, Keane made a final phone call to his mother that would become his last known words. He told her he would be home late and asked if she could leave money out for a taxi. This ordinary request carried extraordinary significance because Keane was under a strict curfew to be home before dark, a rule he had been diligently following according to reports from the Irish Independent.
The teenager had become involved with a local criminal organisation in Drogheda, working as a drugs runner. At the time of his death, he was on licence after being convicted of intimidating a local mother over drug debts accumulated by her child.
The Brutal Murder and Dismemberment
On January 12, 2020, Keane was lured to a house in Drogheda where he was subjected to horrific torture before being beheaded. The violence escalated to unprecedented levels when his killers dismembered his body.
His limbs were thrown from a car in a sports bag onto a footpath in Moatview. Days later, his head, hands and feet were discovered in a burnt-out vehicle in Dublin. The calculated disposal of his remains represented a new low in Irish gangland violence, designed to terrorise rival factions.
The Feud and Violent Aftermath
Keane's murder was the culmination of a brutal feud between two drug gangs operating in the Drogheda area. The prime suspect, Robbie Lawlor, reportedly believed Keane was involved in the murder of his brother-in-law, Richie Carberry, who was killed at his home in November 2019.
According to sources speaking to the Irish Sun, Lawlor was "obsessed with Mulready-Woods" and initially planned only a "punishment beating" over a minor drug debt. Instead, he escalated to torture and murder, later taunting his enemies about the dismemberment.
The 36-year-old Lawlor, described as sadistic and with hundreds of criminal convictions, was himself gunned down in a revenge attack while collecting a drug debt. His murder marked the culmination of the violent cycle sparked by Keane's killing.
In a disturbing precursor to Keane's murder, Lawlor had been assaulted outside a gym weeks earlier by a man connected to one of his alleged murder victims. During this incident, Lawlor's gym bag was stolen, and his enemies posted pictures of themselves wearing his flip-flops. One shared photo carried the chilling caption: "Won't be robbing a man's flip-flops again." It's widely believed Keane was present during this initial attack, prompting Lawlor's fatal revenge.
Justice and Lasting Trauma
In February 2023, Paul Crosby was jailed for 10 years for facilitating Keane's murder, while his co-accused Gerard "Rocky" Cruise received a seven-year sentence. A third man, Gerard 'Ged' McKenna, pleaded guilty to cleaning up and removing evidence from the crime scene.
The emotional devastation inflicted on Keane's family was captured in a victim impact statement read on behalf of his mother, Elizabeth. She described hearing her son's voice calling "Mam, Mam" in haunting nightmares that "live forever with us."
"To lose my child, my son, my baby in a most inhumane, barbaric death is shocking," she stated, adding that part of her died with him. Her concluding words, "I couldn't protect him," encapsulate the profound helplessness felt by a parent confronted with such unimaginable violence.
The case continues to serve as a stark reminder of the human cost of Ireland's gangland feuds and the vulnerability of young people drawn into criminal networks.
