Dubliner Charged in Journalist’s Slaying

A 32-year-old Dublin man was charged with the murder of Veronica Guerin, Ireland’s top investigative reporter, who was shot to death by a motorcycle passenger in an apparent contract killing in June. Paul Ward said nothing when the charge was read out to him in court in Dublin. He has been in custody since Oct. 18 on charges of conspiracy to murder Guerin, who at the time of her slaying was the crime correspondent of the Sunday Independent, but the earlier charges were withdrawn when the new charge was made against him. Guerin, 36, was gunned down at the wheel of her car at a traffic light outside Dublin by the passenger on a motorcycle that drew up beside her and then sped away after the shooting. Police believe that Guerin’s killers were hired to prevent publication of further exposes about Dublin’s criminal underworld.