Sam Marshall

Sam Marshall 31 years, Lurgan, County Armagh, shot dead by the UVF near his home, on 7 March 1990. Mr Marshall was a former republican prisoner, and at the time of his death was out on bail on possession of ammunition charges. Sometime before his death he was told by the RUC his files were in the hands of loyalists. On another occasion RUC members threatened him with death. On the night he was killed he and another man were coming from Lurgan’s RUC barrack, where he had to sign in as part of his bail conditions. The shooting took place in view of the RUC barrack. 

A British television documentary on Channel 4 ‘Despatches’, shown in 1991, revealed a British military surveillance camera was found facing the home of Colm Duffy, who was with Mr Marshall when he was killed, and was believed to have been the intended target of the gunmen. 

At an extradition hearing of an Irish republican in the USA in 1994, a senior RUC officer admitted that one of three unmarked cars in the area at the time of the shooting was in fact an RUC vehicle. The officer declined to explain the reason for its presence on the grounds of national security.