The savage murder of Galway immigrant Ciaran Conneely was recalled in a Boston courtroom yesterday.
Shocked jurors heard how the 36-year-old Irish construction worked was gunned down, allegedly by John Graham, who was only 16 at the time.
Then as Conneey lay dead a man stole $10 from his body to pay a cab driver.
Graham, now 19, is said to have boasted openly of the murder, telling friends “I got a body.”
Prosecutor Ian Polumbaum outlined the senseless killing on Oct. 10, 2011.
Conneely, 36, was out celebrating at Dorchester’s Irish festival.
“He was somebody who worked hard and steadily,” the prosecutor said, saying that when Conneely wasn’t working, “He liked to drink.”
On his way home he stopped at the old Dorchester Post pub. Graham accosted him in a robbery attempt and shot him cold bloodedly in the chest.
“He ended up shot once in the chest. The bullet killed him. And he wasn’t found for close to an hour,” said Polumbaum. “He was cold to the touch.”
Graham went on three weeks later to shoot two other men, who survived, in robbery attempts.
But Graham proved to be his own worst enemy.
“So what eventually connected John Graham to this homicide?” the prosecutor said. “For one thing, he couldn’t stop talking about it. Saying “I got a body. I got a body.” Which means, the prosecutor said, “I killed somebody.”
Conneely’s devastated sister was in court holding held her head in her hands during the heart-wrenching testimony.
A cab driver stated that he saw Conneely’s body on Nahant Avenue and one of his two passengers tried to pay for the fare with a bloody $10 he took from Conneely’s pocket.
The other passenger Boston firefighter Mark Folan, called 911 and told his friend to put the money back. He said Conneely was dead at the scene.
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