Nathan Killeen (far right) with Annabel and John Dundon
THE gawky kid in the ill-fitting suit made a toothy grin for the camera as he collected his date for his Debs’ night.
Four years ago, Nathan Killeen posed for snaps with Annabel Dundon, the little sister of the infamous Dundon brothers.
With Ger and John draping their arms over Killeen, it could have seemed like a youngster in over his head with the country’s most-infamous criminal family.
But the reality is that the man convicted for his part in the murder of Roy Collins is regarded as a serious player in the Limerick underworld in his own right.
Despite the awkward looking photos, Nathan Killeen became an equal partner among the Dundon brothers, who terrorised the city for a decade.
He is considered to be the gang’s most-important enforcer and is suspected to be behind other killings, according to Sunday World sources.
Now aged 24, Killeen has remained loyal to the Dundons even as others turned on their former allies.
The Dundons are a shadow of what they once were, with Wayne and Dessie effectively on protection behind bars to keep them safe in prison.
Despite their rapid decline in the underworld pecking order, Killeen has been steadfast in his loyalty for which he has paid with his liberty.
Killeen, whose sister Ciara is John Dundon’s partner, has been close to the Dundons for years.
The links extend beyond just him and his sister.
His brother John Killeen was in the room in 2004 when Kenneth Dundon, the father of the Dundon brothers, stabbed and killed Christopher Jacobs with a screwdriver through the face in London.
John is also wanted back in Limerick in connection with the shooting of gang boss John McNamara who lost his eye in the attack, according to sources.
McNamara was later the intended target when innocent rugby player Shane Geoghegan was shot dead in Limerick.
Nathan Killeen is also suspected to have had a role in that infamous murder and could yet face charges over allegations that he drove convicted killer Barry Doyle to the scene.
He is also accused of involvement in the murder James Cronin, the 20-year-old shot dead in the wake of Mark Maloney’s killing.
In 2011 he was found guilty of extorting cash from a man in Limerick using threats and was already serving jail sentence for that offence. Killeen’s close family has experienced a lot of personal tragedy.
Nathan Killeen’s mother Susan died after falling from a bridge in Limerick city during the trial earlier this year. He was allowed out of prison under heavy guard to pay his respects at Cross’ funeral home in the city.
His twin brother, Gavin also died tragically in 2007.His father was Gavin Devaney from Sligo, who was a convicted armed robber who died from a suspected heroin overdose.
One of his uncle’s, Ray Casey, was also a notorious criminal in the city.
He earned the reputation of Limerick’s most-violent man as a street fighter in during the 1990s. He famously fought and beat gangster Chris Curtin in a bare-knuckle fight at a cemetery.
But in 1997 he was jailed for life for the brutal and senseless killing of a terminally-ill barman in the city.
Uncle Ray died in the high-security lock-up in Portlaoise from a heart attack in 2009.
Ray’s brother and Nathan’s uncle, Eddie Casey, was jailed in 2006 for 11 years for raping a 23-year-old woman in Galway.
Described in court as a career criminal with 78 previous conviction, it emerged that Eddie Casey was caught thanks to a DNA match following his arrest in the UK.
Pleading for some leniency his lawyers argued in court that Eddie Casey had spent much of his life locked up behind bars.
That’s a fate now facing his notorious young nephew.