February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Patrick Markey
A Dublin man on the run from Ireland was shot to death in the early hours of Tuesday morning as he served drinks in a Manhattan bar and police have questioned one suspect after the victim mentioned a name just before he died.
The victim, David Delaney, 41, from Stoneybatter in Dublin, was alone in The Liffy II bar on Broadway in the Inwood section when he was shot numerous times in the head and upper torso. After he was shot he managed to stagger to the doorway of the pub where he was found by a passerby.
Delaney was pronounced dead at Allen Pavilion Hospital shortly after he was discovered, according to a police spokeswoman. A spokeswoman for the Medical Examiner’s office said Delaney died from gunshot wounds which perforated his lung, liver and fractured his skull.
“Basically, he was tending bar when an unknown person or persons shot him multiple times,” the police spokeswoman said.
On Wednesday, RTE reported that Delaney had twice skipped bail in Ireland and was wanted in connection with a sexual assault 10 years ago.
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A detective close to the investigation said New York police are aware of the outstanding warrant but they now believe it is unlikely the attack was a revenge killing for that incident.
The detective said although Delaney had cash on his person and the cash register was full, no money was taken from the bar. That makes robbery an unlikely motive for the killing, although a “few bottles of booze” had been taken the bar, the detective said.
Delaney is the second Irishman killed in the Inwood section in the last five years.
In the summer of 1995, Eamon Naughton, a bartender from Galway, was shot to death in Inwood and on Tuesday residents were left wondering how gunfire could have taken another Irish immigrant.
On Wednesday afternoon, Delaney’s two brothers arrived in New York from Dublin to make arrangements to fly the body back to Ireland.