AN Oscar-tipped new film on the Loughinisland massacre in 1994 has claimed that the wife of the main suspect named him as the killer in a call to police.
No Stone Unturned, directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney, also contends that the woman admitted she was originally involved in the planning of the murders, before pulling out.
The massacre saw six Catholic men shot dead at The Heights Bar in Loughinisland, Co. Down while watching Ireland’s historic 1-0 win over Italy at the 1994 World Cup.
Their murders were allegedly carried out by a serving British soldier linked with a number of other loyalist killings.
Alex Gibney’s extraordinary documentary claims the man was known to police and that the atrocity was covered up by authorities.
The film further reveals an Ombudsman’s report about a confidential call made by the suspect’s wife to police in which she named him as the Loughinisland gunman.
It also claims that she sent a letter to a local SDLP councillor featuring the same admission.
Both the suspect and his wife were arrested and questioned after the massacre 23 years ago, before later being released without charge.
A former member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) interviewed in the documentary describes the suspected shooter as a "hate-filled bigot".
Adrian Rogan, Barney Green, Dan McCreanor, Eamon Byrne, Malcolm Jenkinson and Patsy O’Hara were all killed when a gunman burst into The Heights Bar and shot at customers indiscriminately.
The chief suspect was investigated in an official inquiry published in 2016.
The report claimed that he had carried out several other murders during the Troubles, including at least one while he was a serving member of a British Army regiment.
No Stone Unturned, directed by Alex Gibney and produced by Enniskillen-born journalist Trevor Birney, will be released in Irish cinemas on November 10.
Relatives of the victims attended the film’s world premiere at the New York Film Festival last month, while family members were also given a private screening in Comber, Co. Down.
"Everyone thought it was very good, it was very emotional,” a spokesperson for the documentary said.
"[Alex] Gibney re-opens a case that has tormented the victims' families for more than 20 years.”
