DUBLIN, IRELAND — The Irish Republican Army’s reputed commander emerged from his life in the shadows Thursday, appearing in court for the first time to be charged with massive tax evasion.
Irish police and prosecutors – stymied for decades in their efforts to put the alleged terror mastermind and fuel smuggler Thomas “Slab” Murphy behind bars – are now using the same approach that U.S. authorities took to nail Al Capone: following the money trail.
The rarely photographed Murphy, 58, had been lying low since British and Irish authorities raided his border-straddling farm in March 2006 and found a vast fuel-smuggling operation that included several tanker trucks, an underground pipeline, cash and checks in bags, and laptops hidden in hay bales. They suspected he escaped at that time using a tunnel underneath the property.
On Wednesday night, detectives from the police’s anti- racketeering squad caught Murphy as he was being driven away from a soccer game. Police and doctors said he feigned illness to go to a local hospital and stall for time. But early Thursday he was charged with nine counts of failing to make tax returns.
As police escorted Murphy into Ardee District Court, he tried to shield his face with both arms held high, exposing only his bald pate.
But when he walked free hours later – courtesy of Ireland’s unusually liberal bail laws – the stocky, short bachelor managed a Mona Lisa smile as photographers and camera crews captured the puffy, uncovered face of one of the country’s most feared militants.
